ZAT: Reviving Dreams
by Revu
Summary: ZAT Holiday Special - Struggling to adapt to his new life, Gohan is finding that being alive doesn't make him normal. In the midst of soul searching for what's truly important in life, an ominous force is approaching the earth.
1. Arriving to Conclusions

**DRAGON BALL ZAT**

2nd Saga: Reviving the Dream

**Disclaimer:**

-The author does not own any part of the Dragon Ball series, including but not limited to the characters of the story.

-This story is entirely fictional, based from purely fictional premise, none of the characters, actions characters partake in, many contraptions found here-in did not happen/do not actually exist.

-No money was made from the creation or distribution of this fic.

-No animals or people or extra dimensional entities were hurt in the making of this fic… I think…

-The author does not encourage nor endorse others to partake in actions as described within the story.

**Warnings:**

This story is rated T for the following reasons:

-Depictions of violence and mild gore.

-Mild language.

-Several deaths (Which by the way happens a lot in Dragon Ball…)

If any of these themes offend you, please do not continue to read this story.

**Misc:**

Surprise! And Happy Holidays everyone! Thanks for stopping by.

Let me start by saying I've written this with the intention of mixing in the ZAT story with a bit of a Christmas Special. I intended for this story to take place a few years after the end of ZAT: Immortal Saiyan. If you haven't read that, please feel free to read it here and leave me some feedback!

fanfiction dot net /s/4921180/1/ZAT-The-Immortal-Saiyan

Though since this story is a Christmas Special, if you're willing to forgo a few little oddities, it shouldn't be necessary to have read Immortal Saiyan in order to get the feel good holiday warm fuzzies I'm hoping it will leave people with in the end.

Please leave comments and let me know what you think! Feel free to email me at: revu at revstuff dot com

Thanks! And on to the story!

* * *

Chapter 1: Arriving to Conclusions

* * *

"…When that time comes, _we _will be ready…"

…2 years later…

"The paint is the wrong color, that tower should be taller, pay more attention to the blueprint!" Videl Satan sighed as her father barked orders to the construction workers responsible for the finishing touches of a two year dream project.

Videl hid her head in shame as she gazed upon the banner in front of "The Mr. Satan's World-Saving Defeat of Majin Buu, Super Gorgeous Hotel". The location was selected on an island near enough to the World Martial Arts Tournament Island that most of the spectators would definitely want to stay at this hotel rather than any other for the annual event. For the rest of the year it was built like a resort with golf, and a casino, and beaches, and spa, and more ridiculousness than Videl could wrap her head around.

Both she and her father knew very well that he wasn't the one who saved the world from Majin Buu or Cell for that matter. There were other mysterious and unnamed heroes out there too humble to ever claim their victory.

Videl walked to a special wing she'd been able to integrate into the design of the hotel. Along the walls of the main lobby of the wing were statues baring the resemblance of warriors who had "aided" Mister Satan in his fights against the forces that threatened the earth. Beyond the coliseum style motif along the edge of the room however, and featured prominently on a fountain pedestal in the center of the room were large reproductions of the mysterious warriors who Videl knew to be the true saviors of the planet.

A grin crossed her face as she gazed upon the statue of the youngest of the warriors that she knew to be called Gohan. She had specifically requested for the halo to be suspended over the head of the statue, and though it had confused the designers, they didn't question her.

"Earth's little cherub defender… are you still out there?" Videl sat on the edge of the fountain and just listened to the serene flow of the fountain for a moment. Water had such a pleasant trickling sound. The sound was getting louder though, in fact it was starting to rumble. "What the hell?" Videl stood as she noticed the entire building was trembling.

The shaking caused Mister Satan to become tangled in his cape and lose his balance, "This island isn't supposed to have earthquakes! I specifically said an island with no earthquakes and no volcanoes!"

The sound became deafening as a sonic boom like crash was descending upon the hotel. Videl ran outside in time to see two bright red spheres drop from the sky and fly past the hotel, "Those weren't meteors."

The two spheres soared through the sky at amazing speed, reaching the main land within seconds and finally crashing into open country leaving a large crater. The red-hot glow faded from the objects surfaces revealing space ships reminiscent of pods used during Frieza's reign over the galaxy.

The pods opened with a hiss of cool steam and an armored figure with a saiyan tail stepped out of the first pod followed by a short robotic woman from the second. The two alien visitors looked up and immediately noticed themselves to be surrounded by the silhouettes of strong looking warriors.

The man with the saiyan tail readied a defensive posture in case a fight was coming on. With the sun behind the crowd he could hardly make out any detail yet as a tall man with wildly spiked hair approached him. The face cleared revealing a wide friendly smile, "Yo!" He waved, "Welcome to earth, I hope you're not planning to start any trouble."

The visitor to earth gulped nervously, "No… I'm looking for… The Saiyan Prince, Vegeta."

From the other side Vegeta stepped down into the crater, "Then you've found him, what business do you have here?"

A smile came over the man's face as he ran forward several steps toward Vegeta before bowing, "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Tarble, your little brother!"

A shocked look came over Vegeta's face as well as all the other Z-Warriors.

Krillin was almost shaking, "Vegeta has a… a brother?"

Bulma seemed fairly calm about the whole ordeal from her vantage point a little ways off, "Vegeta honey, he looks like you."

Vegeta grunted, "Why should I believe you?"

Goku scratched his head looking like he was trying to remember something; "I'm having the weirdest case of déjà vu right now…"

Vegeta quickly overcame the stupor, "If you are who you claim to be, prove it."

Tarble reached into his armor and pulled out a locket in the shape of the royal crest of Vegeta-sei. He opened it and revealed to Vegeta a photograph taken of King Vegeta, Vegeta as a child, their mother, and himself as a newborn.

No longer concerned over any danger, Bulma approached and took a look, "Oh my gosh, is that what you looked like as a kid Vegeta? You were so cute! I need a copy of that please."

Vegeta sighed, "Yes… Tarble; you were born only days before Frieza arrived on Planet Vegeta. Father deemed your power to be weak and sent you off to a distant planet. I never realized you were given any indication of your heritage."

"There were scrolls and data chips in the pod with me. Records of our home world, and a message from father saying that I may be the last remaining member of our race as he was planning to attack Frieza and was not confident of victory," Tarble held out a disk which emitted a holographic projection of King Vegeta.

Vegeta was left speechless as Tarble activated the recording and King Vegeta spoke, "Frieza has ordered an arrangement where he will take custody of my eldest son. His demands have grown too much for us to tolerate. When he comes for my son, we will attack. Though I am uncertain if we can defeat Frieza, it means more to our race to die in battle than to continue to live as his slaves. Frieza was not informed of the birth of my second son. I hope he and the history within these disks reach a distant world and live on should our efforts fail us."

With a wave of his hand, Vegeta stopped the playback, "Why are you here?"

Tarble looked away as an expression of shame came over him, "I need help."

"Get on with it," Vegeta bellowed impatiently.

"A powerful duo, remnants of Frieza's army came to the planet that has been so kind as to shelter me. I tried to stand up to them, but they were too strong for me. I need help to defeat them," Tarble finally admitted.

"Fine," Vegeta appeared to offer his aid immediately in own begrudging way. "Where can we find this pair?"

"They were following me rather closely," Tarble remained downcast, "I'd imagine they'll be arriving on earth within moments."

"Sounds like fun!" Goku proclaimed jovially.

"You must be careful!" Tarble tried to warn them, "From the stories I've heard, they're at least as powerful now as Frieza was during his reign."

"Frieza huh?" Goku thought for a moment, "What do you think Vegeta? Someone as strong as Frieza should be a good exercise for the kids and two on two sounds fair."

Vegeta crossed his arms, "I'm sure Trunks would be more than enough to handle whatever these two have to offer, but sure, why not…"

Tarble watched in wonder as he heard two kids excitedly chant, "We get to fight the aliens!"

* * *

"Stupid space junk falling through the atmosphere and making a mess of things!" Hercule Satan sat at a table sipping ice lemonade as the staff of his hotel was busy dusting and straightening up after the ruckus from earlier.

Videl popped up out of nowhere and slammed a TV panel on the table in front of her father startling him in the process, "I knew I had seen something like this before! Check this out!" Videl hit the replay button on the video she had loaded up as an archived newscast was played with a date indicating it was filmed fourteen years prior. A camera caught two metal spheres falling through the sky and crashing into the middle of Peninsula City. A few minutes later the entire city was destroyed.

Mister Satan gulped loudly, "Alright, what was that for?"

"This is what happened next," Videl forwarded to the next video that captured the alien's appearance and some of their battle with a group of mysterious strangers on a mountain range.

"So what you're trying to say is…?" Mister Satan prayed that his daughter wasn't drawing the conclusion that he thought she was.

Videl pumped her arm, "I'm saying that the last time pods like those fell to earth that evil aliens went on a rampage, we should see if we can do something about it!"

"Uh-huh…" Mister Satan mumbled unconvinced.

A rumbling started up again. As before it became louder and violent. Videl ran out from under the cover and looked up into the sky in time to see two more pods break through the atmosphere. They were closer than the last two and actually impacted one of the hotel towers, crumbling it to the ground.

In the midst of the quaking rumbles, a small girl ran to Hercule and grabbed on to him, "Daddy!"

Mister Satan clutched the little girl tight, "Don't worry princess, it's almost over, I hope!"

As the quaking ended, Videl pulled out a phone, "Erasa, another two just flew by here, can you track them? Just get as close an estimate as you can, I'm heading that way."

Hercule patted the girl's head as tears welled in his eyes from staring at the crumbled east tower of his "gorgeous" hotel. Videl grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him off, "Sorry Ciphy, it's time dad earned his "savior" title!"

"Go kick butt daddy! Good luck sis!" the girl called after them.

* * *

The two ships followed the same trajectory as Tarble's ship, and within moments cratered themselves into a spot only a few miles away from where the Z-Warrior waited. Having acquired their target, the watching warriors disappeared in silence.

Hisses were heard as the hatches opened and two tubby aliens emerged, one blue and one red. The two aliens looked at each other acknowledging the other's presence.

"These are the two who have been causing so much trouble then?" Vegeta spoke sternly surprising the duo that someone was so close.

Tarble nodded and pointed to the blue one, "That one's Abo," and then moved his pointing digit to the red one, "And that one's Kado."

Abo smirked, "You think you've found help do you Tarble?"

Kado laughed, "You've only doomed your friends as well as yourself."

Vegeta's eyes narrowed menacingly, "Trunks, defend your uncle's honor."

"Be sure and have fun Goten!" Goku called out.

"Yeah!" Both boys said as they marched ahead of the group.

In the past two years Goten had grown nearly his head worth. His hair was cut and styled more like Gohan's, and instead of an orange gi like his father's he wore black gi pants and a teal shirt with loose sleeves that reached just past his elbows.

Trunks had also done some growing. He was looking the more stylish of the two with his hair neatly combed and a black Capsule Corporation jacket on.

Abo and Kado wore scouters on their left eyes which they checked as the boys approached, "They have power levels of a thousand each!" The two started laughing hysterically at the representatives of earth.

Tarble gulped loudly, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Watch and you will learn," Vegeta stated proudly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Goten bowed to Kado.

"We promise to play nice," Trunks smirked to Abo.

Still grinning the alien pair barely had time to notice their scouters blip before they were simultaneously punched in the guts and sent sailing across the barren field. The two were clutching their stomachs from the unexpected pain as they looked back and saw Goten and Trunks assuming mirrored battle stances.

"Did they really do that?" Abo seemed bewildered finding his scouter was still reading power levels of a thousand on each of them.

Kado grunted, "Fine, no kid gloves for you!" Abo and Kado flashed their ki and burst into a charge at super speed.

Goten and Trunks caught the attacks and promptly all four of them vanished from sight.

Tarble's mouth dropped wide as he looked from left to right, up to down, and yet he couldn't keep up with them, "How are they so fast?"

Goten punched Kado across the jaw at the same time Trunks uppercut Abo from below the chin. They spun around their perspective opponent and with a kick to the side launched them into each other. The midair collision launched a shockwave of air that blew rocks out of the ground below the aliens. Moments later they both dropped from the sky in a limp heap.

Goten and Trunks grinned to each other and fist pumped.

Goku sighed, "Man, they're making this look too easy; it's almost not even fun to watch."

Piccolo watched the fight intently, "When you consider _how_ they play and _who_ they play with, it's really not surprising." Though Piccolo's words were even key, there was a definite hint of pride in his voice.

Abo and Kado pushed themselves to their feet, "You may be strong," Abo started.

"But believe me, we're far from finished," Kado completed.

The two stood back to back assuming a pose before shouting in unison, "Merge!" Their bodies became forms of energy as they swirled together and the energy grew in size.

After a moment the light faded and their body solidified. The new creature was purple skinned with rough patches of spikes across its face. It flexed its muscles and roared.

The smirk never left Trunks's face, "What do you think Goten?"

"I don't know," Goten shrugged, "Should we call him Abokado now?"

Apparently hitting a sore spot, the monster fumed, "We are Aka!" It powered up and charged the boys again with fists large enough to encase their bodies outstretched and ready to strike. Impact was made and it crushed Goten and Trunks into the ground, running them through for a few hundred meters laughing the entire way. The grinding slide began to slow though and the laughing stopped. Two powerful kis burst from in front of Aka's fists as the forward momentum was halted completely. Aka yelled loudly and his ki flared brighter and he pushed forward with all his might.

Goten and Trunks were each pushing against a fist, "It did make him a bit stronger huh?" Goten admitted.

"I guess it did," Trunks replied sounding mildly strained, "what should we do about it?"

"Super time?" Goten asked excitedly.

"Sure, why not?" Trunks winked.

The ground in front of Aka split open as the energy he was pushing against took on a golden color, "What?!"

Tarble also watched in increasing amazement as his scouter exploded trying to scan the boys' power levels, "Their power, is that… the legend?"

Vegeta nodded, "We do indeed refer to one in that transformed state as a Super Saiyan."

Still holding on to one of Aka's hands each, Goten and Trunks began to fly in circles, spinning Aka around and around. Once they had the beast sufficiently disoriented they let go and from the same side kicked him high into the sky. Aka continued to spin wildly until he crashed into a mountain and crumbled it under the force of his fall.

Aka tried to push himself to his feet, but was still dizzy from the spinning. So much so that in a fit of disorientation he upchucked whatever contents were in his shared stomach.

Goten and Trunks started laughing and high fived each other for their triumph over Aka's constitution.

"This is humiliating…" Aka grumbled to himself as he wiped his mouth, "No one does this to us; not since Lord Frieza was around does anyone humiliate us!"

Aka began to rise into the sky as the atmosphere darkened, "We'll show you brats, you'll see that you're up against a force that is now the greatest in the galaxy!" Aka put his hands together and pushed forth a large amount of his energy, "Just try and survive this! WAHAHANO-HAAA!" the purple blast was enormous as it cascaded across the empty range.

Goten and Trunks stood steadfast and waited as the beam approached. Trunks started the countdown, "Three…"

"Two…" Goten continued as he and Trunks faced each other.

One…" Trunks drew out as they held their hands between them, Trunks's horizontally opposed and Goten's vertically.

"Now!" Both of them concentrated their energy into the same space at the same time. Together they brought their hands forward and side-by-side launched a counter blast at close proximity, which immediately tore through Aka's Wahaha beam.

"No… NOOO!" Aka screamed as the power beam from the boys completely overtook his own and whisked him away before exploding.

Goten and Trunks touched down on the ground and their hair returned to their original colors, "Great job guys!" Bulma and Chichi shouted from the background. The two boys posed grinning with their thumbs up.

"Well that sure was an easy villain," Krillin laughed to himself.

"Just be thankful you weren't the one who had to fight it," Yamcha teased.

Everyone was celebrating and cheering, but Tarble noticed a serious look still on Goku's and Vegeta's faces, "What's wrong?"

"Looks like he's going to make things interesting…" Goku whispered.

Several miles off, Aka climbed out from the rubble and rocks that had collapsed over him, "FINE! I don't need to be stronger than those brats! It won't matter when this planet's nothing but DUUUST!"

Aka burst himself high into the sky, feeding an energy ball over his head powerful enough to wipe out the earth.

Tarble was nearly blown over when Goku and Vegeta left their positions at instant super speed.

Vegeta looked over to see Goku flying at his side, "Back off Kackarot, he's mine!"

"Don't worry Vegeta, I've got this covered!" Goku contested.

"This is my family's problem, I'll handle it!" Vegeta barked.

"The earth is in danger and that's totally my department!" Goku retorted.

Like a red giant star, Aka's energy ball began casting a dangerous light over the earth.

"Just let me take care of this Vegeta!" Goku whined.

"Fat chance!" Vegeta yelled.

"I'll get there first!" Goku challenged.

"Like hell you will!" Vegeta grunted.

The ball was thrown, ending their argument. However before they could act a shadow appeared between them and the oncoming attack, "Ahh no!" Goku and Vegeta yelled unison.

"HOW?!" Aka peered through the ball seeing that a boy, slightly larger than the ones he already fought, was holding the ball in place.

"You should have called it quits when you had the chance!" With his hands outstretched, Gohan formed a huge purple shield completely encasing Aka's energy ball except for what was pointed directly back in Aka's face. With hands already above his head, a great yellow and orange energy gathered, "MA-SEN-KO-HAAA!"

The planet killing ball exploded, the force of the blast directed back at Aka. Aka's shout was unintelligible as the energy engulfed him and tore him away from the earthly plane for good.

The light from the explosion faded as Gohan turned around and made a "V" with his hand for victory, "I got it!"

"Awww, that's cheating son, I didn't teleport!" Goku dejectedly frowned as he and Vegeta arrived on either side of Gohan.

Gohan closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head while smiling nervously and giggling. He wore an outfit much like Goten's only with a burgundy colored shirt to his elbows. Vegeta tapped his arm but said nothing as Goku tried to perk back up, "Oh well, but I get the next one!"

"In your dreams!" Vegeta growled.

At a complete loss for words, Tarble collapsed to the ground as the small robot woman tried to comfort him, "They made it look so… effortless… They're all so strong."

The three most powerful saiyans returned to the group as a low hum was heard approaching. In the sky a large airship featuring the prominent bust of Mister Satan was settling overhead. Two cables were dropped from the ship as a battle armored Hercule came flying down a zip tie like cord. Videl was close behind him in plain clothes.

The two touched down on the ground and noticed the Z-Warriors were the only ones present. "It's you guys!" Videl exclaimed happily.

Mister Satan barely landed on his feet as he noticed the same thing; "You're all here! Does this mean it's over already?"

Goku laughed and gave the man a thumbs-up. A crooked grin formed on the large man's face before he promptly fainted from relief.

Videl noticed the boy standing at Goku's side and approached him, "Gohan, it's good to see you again."

"You know my name?" A lump grew in Gohan's throat as he asked.

Videl nodded, "That's what your little gremlin friend called you the last time I saw you."

"Oh," Gohan laughed as he realized she was referring to Phips. He tried to straighten himself out as he shyly waved to the girl, "Well, hi!"

Videl smiled as she lowered herself to his eyelevel, "I don't believe it, you still haven't changed at all since the last time I saw you…"

"Yeah…" A frown formed on Gohan's face as he looked away from Videl's eyes.

It was obvious to Videl that Gohan was saddened, "Gohan…? Is something wrong?"

Goku placed his hand on Gohan's shoulder and kneeled down to whisper to his son, "We should probably go."

With a nod Gohan signaled he agreed. The two Sons placed fingers to their heads in concentration for a moment before they disappeared in multiple quick fades, taking the rest of the group with them.

"No wait, please don't go yet!" Videl pleaded, but she was already left standing alone with her still unconscious father.

Within an instant, the Z-Warriors all materialized atop Mount Paozu.

"One of these days Goku, you really need to teach that Mister Satan a lesson," Chichi grumbled.

Nothing but a warm smile crossed Goku's face, "As long as he's there then people leave us alone, I don't see what the problem is."

Chichi thought about it and shrugged, "Anyway, with that over we probably need to have a celebration and welcome Tarble to the family. What do you think Bulma?"

"I agree, and it's a beautiful day up here in the mountains, let's have a cookout!" Everyone cheered at the notion of food.

It took next to no time for the group's combined efforts to have the son property rigged up for a party. Trunks took the liberty of introducing his uncle to all of their friends while Goten helped, "That's Master Roshi, he helped train Goku years ago to be a great warrior."

Goten nodded, "Yeah, and he's also a dirty old man who chases all the pretty girls."

Trunks continued, "That's Yamcha, he's been one of Goku's friends for a long time, longer than Krillin I think."

Goten happily added, "Yeah and he used to have a thing with Trunks's mom before she got together with Trunks's dad!" Trunks squinted his eyes dangerously at Goten.

After clearing his throat, Trunks pointed down the line, "And that's Tien."

Trunks waited to see if Goten would say anything about Tien but after a moment Goten just shrugged, "He has three eyes!"

Trunks buried his face in his hands and groaned.

Gohan happened to be walking by so Goten pulled him closer, "And you saw him earlier, but this Gohan!" Goten exclaimed excitedly.

"Yo!" Gohan waved to Tarble.

"You two look a lot alike," Tarble pointed out looking between Gohan and Goten.

Goten nodded excitedly, "Yeah, he's my big brother! But I'm catching up!"

"That's… interesting…" Tarble stated while sounding a little confused.

A crooked grin managed its way onto Gohan's face as his eyes closed and head went lopsided, "It's a long story… Anyway, you guys have fun!"

"We're going to get games started soon Gohan!" Goten bounded happily, "You're going to play with us right?"

"Umm… sure," Goten smiled happily as Gohan ruffled his hair. "Let me know when you have everything ready," Gohan told him as he continued on.

Trunks pointed to another friend, "And that's Chiaotzu."

Goten leaned closer to Tarble, "I think he's a cursed doll…"

Trunks pushed Goten aside, "You dope! He's a vampire, duh!"

"Ohhh, I see it!" Goten smiled.

Around the side of the house Gohan walked off by himself. A little ways aside from the actual house was a cement pillar. Gohan stopped and looked at it for a moment. From about three feet from the ground and up, lines had been carved into the pillar. Goten's name and a date was written near each of the lines of one side, while his own name and a date was written on the lines on another side.

Gohan crossed his arms and stared at it for a moment with his head cocked to the side. With a sigh he turned around and put his back against the pillar and set his hand on top of his head. He left his hand at that spot on the pillar as he turned around to look. His hand had fallen exactly into the line carved near the words, "Gohan at 11 Years Old" which had been put there nine years ago.

A long breath escaped, one Gohan hadn't realized he was holding. After a moment of silence he spoke aloud, "I guess that's where it's going to stay, huh Piccolo?"

Piccolo approached from the trees, "Does that bother you?"

Gohan shrugged, "I don't know, maybe? I'm just confused."

"How so?" Piccolo had a good idea of what was going through Gohan's head, but he knew it helped his former pupil to actually talk about it.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to be. Should I _grow up_ and act as an adult and be responsible and adult like and think and do adult things, or am I a kid who can play and do silly childish things and not get taken seriously?" Gohan's current frustration was apparent.

Piccolo smirked slightly, "If anyone did, you proved long ago that children are a force to be reckoned with and should be taken seriously."

"That's not what I mean," Gohan laughed.

"I know," Piccolo placed his hand on Gohan's shoulder, "But it has only been two years since you came back to life, maybe it just needs more time. Everyone agrees you should be enjoying this time you've been given."

Gohan looked down sullenly, "I guess I'm just thinking that I don't know how to enjoy being a kid."

"I believe that one," Piccolo shook his head, "From the time you were five years old we were dragging you into the middle of things no child should have been a part of, I'm sorry for that Gohan."

An immediate shift came over Gohan's demeanor, "No, Mister Piccolo, I didn't mean it like that either, really. I'm sorry, I guess I just don't really know what has me in such a funk today."

"What's important is that you be yourself through all of this," Piccolo crossed his arms and resumed his authoritative stance, "Forget the preconceived notions of how others believe the world to be and be the person you are in your heart regardless of appearances."

The two shared a moment of silent contemplation before Gohan finally smiled again, "You would say something like that." Another moment of companionable silence ticked by, "I guess I was also thinking… when I saw that girl today that if I were, well, _normal_ that I'd be her age."

Piccolo actually smirked, "We've crossed paths with them on several occasions, do you like her?"

Gohan staggered, "Don't start sounding like Phips please."

Piccolo couldn't help but chuckle to himself. His expression turned serious again shortly thereafter though. He had to very carefully consider his next words before he spoke them, "Gohan," he paused for a moment while he concluded that he had to at least express it as an option, "There is the possibility that Shenron could _normalize_ your aging if that's what you truly want."

No reply was heard. Gohan chewed on his tongue as he continued to think.

On the other side of the house, Goten was walking across the lot carrying some large plastic pins and looking from left to right. He eventually ran up to Goku, "Dad, have you seen Gohan? He said he was going to play with us once we got the games set up."

Goku looked around as well, "I don't sense him, but I'm sure he's somewhere close by. He'll probably join you soon."

"Okay, thanks," Goten walked away looking a little dejected. Out of habit he checked under his shirt collar to make sure a particular prism was still safe and secure around his neck.

* * *

End Chapter

It feels so good to be writing a story again! I really should have done this a lot sooner, but what better time than this time of the year to start posting a new project.

Just in case anyone has made it this far and realized this story seems kind of confusing, this is technically a continuation of my other story, ZAT: Immortal Saiyan. Please check it out if you haven't!

I've already got the entire outline for this part of the saga all drafted out and I'm planning on having the whole thing posted by the end of the year. Unless something major changes (which it very well could) this story should end up completing with about six chapters. I hope this did well in setting the groundwork for where our little Holiday Special is going.

Please leave a review; I'm so looking forward to hearing from you with whatever you have to say!

'Till next time!


	2. A Workshop to the North

Hi again everyone! Thanks a lot for all the great feedback from chapter 1!

So I wanted to be sure and mention that this story is going to be quite different than the original ZAT. I promise to get to some good DBZ action stuff, but this is Christmas, and Christmas needs a little bit of… well… drama… right?

Forward we go!

* * *

Chapter 2: A Workshop to the North

* * *

"Coming!" Trunks shouted as he trudged across the house in his pajamas toward the door that was buzzing. He stretched and yawned before opening it, "Oh hey Gohan! What's up!"

"Yo Trunks!" Gohan saluted coolly. An observation pinged in Gohan's mind; now that Trunks was ten years old they were nearly the same height. Gohan only had maybe two inches over his friend. "I actually need to talk to your mom, is she in?"

"I think so, I don't think she's come out of her lab all night though," Trunks looked in that direction, "Come on we can go check."

"Awesome thanks!" Gohan entered and shut the door behind him.

The two trekked across the large complex filled with incredible gadgets and dinosaurs, "So where did you disappear to the other day Gohan?"

"Huh?" Gohan looked confused.

"Yeah, the night we were welcoming Uncle Tarble, you said you'd play some games with us once we got them all set up but then you disappeared," Trunks explained.

"Oh I'm sorry," Gohan scratched his head remembering the night, "I started talking to Piccolo and I guess I lost track of the time."

"Piccolo talks?" Trunks laughed, "No biggie Gohan, just Goten was saying you haven't been playing as much lately."

Gohan's mouth hung open slightly, "He said that?"

Trunks nodded as he knocked on the lab door.

Bulma sipped on her morning coffee as her tired eyes looked over the plans for her latest brainchild that came to her in the night. She groaned as she realized it was her morning coffee from the previous day. She dumped the cup as she heard the knock on the door.

"Mom, are you in here?" Trunks called as he entered the lab.

"Over here honey," Bulma replied without turning away from her spot.

Trunks held the door open, "Gohan's here to see you mom."

Bulma perked up, "Really now? Just the person I was hoping to see!" With a sudden burst of energy, Bulma hurried to the door.

"Hi Bulma, whoa!" Gohan had barely gotten a greeting out when Bulma grabbed him by the arm and dragged him deeper into the lab.

Trunks decided if anything interesting was going on that he wanted to see it and followed close behind.

"Let me start by telling you I had this dream a couple of weeks ago and then everything just suddenly made sense and the next thing I knew I was sketching out a blue print, and now I think I'm really on to something," Bulma started rambling as she dragged Gohan along.

Used to some of Bulma's genius outbursts, Gohan went along with it, "Okay, what's all this about?"

They reached her drafting table as Bulma pulled the large sheets off and displayed them before Gohan and Trunks, "This!"

Trunks looked at the ring on the paper in confusion but noticed Gohan's mouth was hanging open in shock. No one was talking so he finally asked, "What is it?"

Gohan took a step closer, "This is a plan for… a rift generator?"

Bulma nodded excitedly.

"English, anyone?" Trunks looked from his mother to his friend and back.

"Right," Gohan began to explain without looking away from the draft, "Basically it's a portal to another universe. It tunes to the frequencies of a particular dimension and establishes a link to it allowing things to cross over to it kind of like a bridge."

"Well… I guess that's kind of English, thanks," Trunks crossed his arms continued to watch.

"Bulma," Gohan started, "You know stuff like this isn't really allowed."

Bulma put the plans back on the table, "I know you've mentioned it before that randomly entering other worlds is dangerous and forbidden, but this isn't about profit or even exploration. We _have_ already gotten involved in inter-dimensional conflict; this could be an answer for our defense. What do you say?"

Gohan chewed his lip for a moment. After a minute of silence, he held out his hand, "Can I see your pencil?" Bulma handed it to him and he climbed up onto the drafting stool and started adding to the design, "The math is a little off here; the vector of the lazimus is correlated to the event horizon of the inner planer dynamics, not the outer."

"That makes much more sense now that you mention it," Bulma watched excitedly as Trunks backed away clutching his head.

"Also as far as the physical structure of the ring goes, it needs to be reinforced with stronger material." Gohan pointed to three points forming a triangle inside the ring, "It will be under a lot of stress here holding a rift open and the whole thing would collapse on itself if these points were to so much as crack."

It appeared that Bulma understood everything as she rubbed her chin and nodded, "I hear you. Oh, one more question, does the electrical design look to be enough to handle the initial jump charge?"

Gohan looked over the pages really quick, "Yeah actually, that's a good design for the superconductors and conduit relays. They look like they could spark without a problem."

"Thanks!" Bulma smiled sweetly.

Gohan hopped off the chair and let Bulma look over everything.

Suddenly something else clicked in Bulma's head, "Oh, I'm sorry, you must have come by for a reason before I dragged you into this, what's up?"

"Oh yeah!" Gohan perked up, "I came to find out if I could borrow your Dragon Radar?"

"Of course," Bulma walked over to a lab closet marked "important" and fished through a few shelves, "Here it is." She turned around and held it up, "So what is it that you're wanting the dragon for, hmm?"

A slight blush came over Gohan, "I thought it might be fun to go collect them, be something different to do."

"Still out for adventure, you Sons never change," Bulma chuckled as she handed Gohan the radar. Once she was close enough and knew Trunks wasn't paying attention she whispered, "If there's anything you need to talk about though, you know you can always come ask me."

Gohan gulped hard but quickly recovered his composure, "Thanks a lot Bulma, I owe you!"

"Anytime!" Bulma winked before returning to her drafting table.

Trunks followed Gohan out as he left the lab, "So Gohan, is Goten going with you to find the Dragon Balls?"

"Umm…" Gohan stumbled, "Actually Goten doesn't know I'm looking for the Dragon Balls yet, it's kind of a secret until I find them all."

"Oh…" Trunks thought for a moment then grinned, "Alright, I won't say anything, for now."

Gohan pushed him playfully as they laughed, "Yeah you won't!" Once outside Gohan looked up to the sky, "Nimbus!" The cloud swooped down allowing Gohan to hop on to it before flying off to the sky.

The Dragon Radar booted up and began displaying the locations of all seven artifacts. Gohan smiled, "This is easy now, let's go!"

* * *

In a desert, the radar pointed into the heart of a huge dust storm, spanning hundreds of feet into the air. Gohan anchored himself nearby and flared his ki against the dust, calming the storm and revealing the three star Dragon Ball, "That's one."

* * *

A loud roar echoed throughout the planes, "Easy there boy, I've almost…" Gohan plucked the five star ball out from a tyrannosaurus from where it was wedged under its horns, "Got it! I bet that feels better," Gohan patted the huge beast. "Two."

* * *

With very little light Gohan crawled through a deep narrow cave. He forged down a spiraling path past stalagmites and stalactites and through waist deep mud. Finally he held the two star ball up above his head and shouted, "Haha, three!" Which woke up the bats and flooded the entire cave in their flapping cloak.

* * *

Gohan folded his clothes neatly before shouting, "Geronimo!" and diving off Nimbus into the ocean. When his head emerged again, the seven star ball was clutched firmly in his hand, "This makes four."

* * *

A cloud floated by the ash spewing from a caldera of a volcano making it hard to see anything. Gohan made out the sparkle of the one star ball just in time to snatch it before the ledge it was on was smashed by a molten projectile, "Whew, five!"

* * *

Fierce winds blew atop a tall narrow ledged mountain. Gohan floated to the peak where the winds held the four star ball wedged in place on the end of a thin brittle platform. Without much care Gohan swooped in and collected the ball, "Yes, that's six, only one more!" and left without even noticing the disheartened looks of a strange little blue man, a woman, and a dog who had almost made it to the ledge.

* * *

Gohan zipped up a dark red hooded jacket as he got cold approaching the last ball. The radar pointed ahead, "It's in North City…" Gohan frowned as he landed on the outskirts of town and let Nimbus float on.

Snow was collecting on roofs and sidewalks as Gohan started making his way into the city. He noticed how he could see his breath and smiled a bit though he was never fond of the cold.

North City didn't have much in the way of attractions. The buildings were mostly bland and brown brick. Even the people about town wore mostly brown and earth colors. Port like vents stuck out of the ground every few hundred meters with what seemed to be steam coming out of them.

With a bit of a cold bite to the air, people had their heads down and were moving quickly. No one seemed to pay the dark haired boy even an acknowledgement as he made his way through town.

Feeling secure enough that no one would even notice, Gohan pulled out the Dragon Radar and started to deliberately follow the signal through town. Gohan found it mildly difficult as he was used to getting places in a straight line, but realized it would look odd if he were to jump over houses and buildings in his way. At the same time though the dead end streets were starting to frustrate him.

The street Gohan had been walking down didn't even go straight, it curved in a different direction and it had been a while since Gohan had seen a cross street going in the direction he actually wanted to go.

Up ahead there was a narrow space between buildings that appeared to be some kind of alleyway. Hoping it connected to a better street, Gohan turned through it. His face was plastered to the radar as it ticked away his distance to the final ball. He was engrossed enough in his task that he almost didn't notice a muffled sound ahead of him.

Gohan stopped for a moment as he tried to make out what he was hearing. A heavy breathing, but more like whimpering, definitely sniffling, like someone was hurt.

More rushed than before to find the source of the noise, Gohan quietly floated closer to the sound. There was a stack of boxes against a wall, and mostly hidden on the other side of the boxes was a boy with his face buried in his knees.

Not sure what the best thing to do would be, Gohan thought he should at least make his presence known, "Why are you crying?"

Startled, the boy on the ground jumped to his feet, his eyes wide and slightly puffy. He stood at about Gohan's height, maybe slightly taller; he brushed some of his light brown hair from in front of his green eyes as he stared Gohan down. For a moment the boy seemed embarrassed and couldn't say anything.

Finally finding his voice, the boy took a step forward as if to show aggression, "Why are _you _sneaking up people?!"

Gohan cocked his head to the side, not sure what to make of the boy's stance. After a moment of awkward silence the boy reached behind him and pulled out a skateboard, "Whatever man," he sighed indignantly before jumping on the board and skating away.

Not able to do much more than shrug, Gohan pulled out the Dragon Radar and continued on.

The town continued to be frustrating with very few streets actually going very far in the direction Gohan wanted to be walking. He was about to call Nimbus when a vent beside him let loose a long plume of smoke into the air. Gohan stayed and watched for a moment until it cleared. He walked over to the vent and looked down into it. It seemed to go down pretty far, much deeper than the street anyway.

"Don't be playing around that thing!" A woman's voice called out. Gohan turned and noticed the woman about his mother's age with a familiar protective expression on her face, "You never know if it's going to go again, and if that smoke burns you, well, good luck getting that old cheapskate Mister Durel to pay any recompense."

"Oh, thanks," Gohan bowed politely to the lady before he continued on.

The Dragon Rader zoomed in and showed the last Dragon Ball wasn't too far off now; maybe just another couple of blocks to go. The streets here were nearly deserted. On both sides of the street were apartment buildings that all seemed to be at least three to five stories tall. People were either inside staying warm or out somewhere else it seemed. The silence was enough that it was a little jarring when Gohan heard a slam followed by a yell, "Ouch, stop!"

The yell came from the top of one of the buildings, "What are you gonna do, run to your daddy? Well good!"

Gohan found his way behind the building into the shadows before floating to the top to see what the commotion was all about.

"I won't say anything just please let me go," a familiar voice pleaded.

"You're missing the point punk!" Gohan's head poked over the top of the apartment building to see a group of teenagers surrounding the kid he had seen crying earlier in the alley. "You're going to crawl back to your pop with a nice shiner, and maybe he'll get the picture."

The larger boys pushed him around their circle from one to another until the smaller boy fell in the middle of them, "He won't even care, really he won't."

"At least it'll make me feel better then," The teenager doing the talking grabbed the boy by the shirt collar and hoisted him to his feet as his fist reeled back. The boy looked away as he braced for the blow.

"Don't you dare hit him!" A voice demanded from behind the group.

The teens looked shocked for a moment that someone else was on the roof even though they were on the side with the stair well, but they were over it soon as the ring leader dropped the boy and turned to Gohan, "Listen kid, if you don't know what's going on then butt out, this ain't got nothing to do with you."

Gohan shook his head, "If you're planning on hurting someone for any reason then you're going to have to get passed me first."

The older boy laughed, "Do you really think we'd have a problem with that punk?"

"I should warn you," Gohan assumed a fighting stance, "I've been trained in the martial arts."

"Send a kid to a few karate classes and next thing you know he thinks he's a Satan," all the teens laughed as they circled around Gohan, "Since you think you're doing something good, I promise not to hurt you too bad."

The teen laughed with his friends and looked away as though he wasn't serious before he turned and charged at Gohan as if to take him off guard. Before anyone even knew what was happening, the older boy's face was on the ground and Gohan was holding the boy's arm clamped tight to his back.

Even the boy on the ground was confused. He wasn't hurt, but the shock of being pinned to the ground faster than he could blink took a moment to process, "The hell, get off me!"

"Not until you swear that you're not going to bother anyone anymore," Gohan demanded.

The boy grunted, "Get this punk off me!"

The next few boys charged in, "Wrong move guys."

As the first boy extended his arm to punch, Gohan reached in and grabbed the boy's wrist as if he were hardly moving and pulled him forward off his balance before sliding him backwards into the next boy's path tripping one attacker with another.

A kick flew towards Gohan's head from another direction, Gohan grabbed the ankle gently once it was within his arm's reach and carried the momentum back with it flipping the kid's kick back over his own head and forcing him into an unbalanced backflip.

The last two charged in together with their shoulders heaved forward to tackle Gohan down. Gohan put a hand on each of their shoulders halting their moment completely before he simply flung them back and they slid across the roof a good thirty feet.

Finally the ring leader of the group was on his feet again and threw a punch toward the back of Gohan's head. He never even saw Gohan turn around, it was as if one moment the back of the kid's head was right in his sights, and the next he was staring into the kid's eyes, his fist caught in the other boy's hand. He grunted as he pushed against Gohan's hand as hard as he could but it was like pushing against a skyscraper.

"You little shiiii…" The boy's words didn't have a chance to complete as Gohan squeezed the fist in his grasp slightly. The boy sank to his knee; his free hand immediately went to clutch at his trapped one as he pulled and yelled. It felt as though his hand was caught in the gear of a machine that was slowly turning, "Please! I'M SORRY!"

With an apology out, Gohan let go of the boy who immediately fell back grasping his hand. The teen looked his hand over, it wasn't broken, but it was a little red and swollen, "What the hell?"

One of the other boys ran up to his hurt friend, "Dude, are you okay?"

"No…" the boy was almost sobbing as he shook his hurt hand and climbed to his feet.

A smirk crossed Gohan's lips, "Unless you still want more then maybe you should come up with a new strategy," the smirky look turned serious, "like running away."

The first of the boys took off immediately which quickly sparked an exodus from the roof top.

The smaller boy watched in awe as his tormenters were rushing by him in a panic. A smile crossed his face which didn't go unnoticed by the larger boys as they ran by, "This isn't over," the ringleader shouted as he ran by and shoved the boy as hard as he could.

The boy tried to stay on his feet as he slid back but as the back of his knees collided with the roof barrier, the majority of weight shifted over the side of the building and over he went.

Having noticed that he went too far, the teen boy stopped and stared in shock and horror at the spot where the younger boy had been standing, "No!"

The others who hadn't quite left through the roof access noticed the predicament as well and stared dumbfounded. The next thing they noticed though was that the other boy who they were running from wasn't on the roof anymore either.

The small boy watched the ground beneath him approach in slow motion as he tried to breathe calmly. At one point his mind registered that he was falling nearly a hundred feet, and then he tried to think if people normally survive hundred foot falls or not.

Before the boy had much time to think about anything else he noticed he wasn't watching the ground approach in slow motion, he was actually slowing down. He looked up and noticed the boy from the roof had a hold of his leg and was lowering him down gently, but he also noticed that there didn't seem to be anything holding on to the boy who was holding on to him.

The snow piled on the sidewalk was soft as the boy was gently plopped onto it. Without getting up, the boy looked up at Gohan, "Thanks…"

Gohan smiled as running footsteps were heard from the nearby stair well before the door was slammed open and a few of the teen boys ran out, "Bit, are you alright?!"

Looking angry, Bit stood up, "No thanks to you guys, leave me alone!"

The teen boys nodded and walked away without further incident.

Satisfied with the situation, Gohan pulled out the Dragon Radar and started following it again, "Hey wait!"

Bit dusted himself off, ran up alongside Gohan and walked with him, "That was really cool what you did back there, I might have died if you hadn't come around when you did."

"Actually, if it hadn't been for me those guys wouldn't have pushed you off the building, they didn't want to kill you," Gohan muttered without looking up.

"They still would have beat me up real good," Bit smiled, "but, boy, you showed them," he mimicked Gohan's moves in the air, "Pull, shove, floor! You made them look like a bunch of sissies! Here I always thought those guys were really tough."

Gohan finally grinned a bit, "It's not that they weren't tough, I'm sure they're really strong, but people shouldn't use their strength to hurt others. So don't worry, I'd help anyone caught up in an unfair match like that."

The boy shrugged and continued, "So what's your name?"

Gohan held out his hand, "My name's Gohan, and yours?"

"My friends call me Bit," the boy said as he shook Gohan's hand, "Nice to meet ya."

"Yeah," Gohan smiled.

"So another thing," Bit got quiet for a moment before asking, "how did you fly?"

Gohan shook his head and laughed, "You're probably better off forgetting you ever saw that."

"Aww…" Bit whined.

As the two were walking side by side Gohan noticed the boy was just slightly taller than he was, "How old are you?"

"Twelve," Bit answered, "You?"

"Umm…" Gohan thought about his answer for a moment, "Eleven…" It almost came out as a question.

Thinking Gohan's hesitation had something to do with feeling insecure over being younger, Bit added, "Don't worry, I guess you could say I just turned twelve, so we're about the same age."

"Oh…" Gohan looked away, "Cool…"

The Dragon Radar beeped as it pinged the ball and zoomed again. Gohan's attention fell back on the radar as he continued walking in that direction. Bit noticed the radar and quickly put two and two together, "What are you looking for?"

"A Dragon Ball," Gohan started but realized that probably sounded weird to other people, "It's a really important old artifact, and with it lots of things can be fixed."

"Oh," Bit didn't ask any more questions but continued walking with Gohan.

Realizing that he had apparently acquired a companion for the moment, Gohan tried to break the silence, "So what was going on earlier today that you were upset over?"

A frown crossed Bit's face, "You're probably better off forgetting you ever saw that."

Gohan gave Bit a quirky look, "Don't steal my lines."

Bit laughed and kept up with Gohan.

The radar took Gohan's attention again as it started beeping rapidly. He tapped the button on top to force it to zoom in, "Weird."

"What's wrong?" Bit asked as he noticed Gohan looked confused.

Gohan kept staring at the Dragon Radar "…According to this, the ball should be right here, but I don't see it anywhere."

Bit looked around and noticed they were standing right in the middle of a street with nothing around them, "Here? As in here, here?"

"Yeah, it shows that we should be standing right on top of it…" At that moment a vent nearby almost whistled as it spewed out a plume of smoke. Gohan blinked a few times as he watched the smoke rise into the air and dissipate. "We should be standing… right on top… of it…"

"Oh," Bit watched as Gohan sank to the ground and put his ear against the street.

"What's underneath us here?" Gohan asked from the ground.

"The factory," Bit answered plainly, "There's a huge factory that runs almost all throughout the town underground. Most of the people who live here also work in the factory."

"An underground factory," Gohan smiled as he hopped back up to his feet, "I need to get down there."

Bit shook his head, "Not a good idea," Gohan noticed the sullen expression overtake Bit suddenly. "The owner of the factory is kind of an old coot. He doesn't like people in the factory unsupervised or who are _unauthorized_."

Gohan scratched his head, "Doesn't sound like you like this guy."

"No one does," Bit continued, "He's a stingy old man, the factory has made him really rich but he doesn't do anything good with his money. And he pays his employees next to nothing and expects a lot of detailed work out of everyone."

"He sounds mean," Bit nodded in agreement. "Alright, but I'm still going to get in there and find what I came here for."

"There might be a way in nearby," Bit thought hard for a moment, "I don't know all the entrances and exits to the factory, but there are port windows and larger vents scattered all over town. If we could find one we could get in easy."

"Well this town is too confusing to just wander around looking for something like that, come on!" Gohan pulled Bit into an alley way behind a building, "We can check over the city for these vents and windows faster my way, we just need a little cover." Bit was still confused as Gohan cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted into the sky, "Nimbus!"

Mildly shocked, Bit jumped back as a cloud zoomed down from the sky and pulled up beside them. Gohan wasted no time and hopped onto the cloud and held his hand out to his new friend, "You want to come?"

Bit considered Gohan's offer for only a moment before he took the proffered hand, "Yeah!"

"Alright Nimbus, let's float over town, nice and easy," Obeying Gohan's command, the cloud drifted back up into the sky affording the boys a wider look over the area.

A thought crossed Bit's mind and he had to ask, "Gohan, you can fly on your own, I saw it, so why do you ride a cloud?"

Gohan looked over his shoulder at Bit and shrugged, "Why do you ride a skateboard?"

Bit nodded and said nothing further on the subject.

They circled over the area a few times before Bit pointed down at a particular street, "There, those are port windows that go down to the factory."

"Great!" Gohan twisted Nimbus around in that direction, "Take us down where no one will see us please Nimbus."

The cloud obeyed perfectly and floated down into an alley way across the street from the windows. The two hopped off the cloud and Gohan waved it off as it floated back up to the sky.

"Wow," Bit watched the cloud leave and laughed, "I'd swear I was dreaming, you've gotta be the coolest funkiest guy I've ever met."

"That's a new one on me," Gohan laughed as they walked up to the windows.

Bit kneeled down in front of the window, "They're locked, but I know what to do." Bit pulled out a card and a pen and started fiddling with the window. In a few minutes there was a click and the window slid open.

"You're kind of good at that," Gohan noticed.

"I used to play around these more often," Bit admitted before looking in to make sure no one was around, "Can you lower us down?"

"Yeah," Gohan grabbed bit from under the arms and slowly lowered them both to the floor inside the factory.

For the most part the factory was dark. Lots of large rooms connected by wide hallways filled with boxes and supplies. Metallic whirring noises and hisses could be heard down the hall. Every few minutes the tubes that follow the ceiling would shake as though something was being pumped through them.

The boys halted their talking as they went sneaking through the compound. Gohan pulled the Dragon Radar out to check when a door at the end of the hallway opened and two men walked in. Bit and Gohan barely hid in time to avoid notice, "Sir, please consider what this will do to employee morale."

"Don't you talk to me about your idiotic fallacies… morale… bah!" The older man who walked ahead scoffed.

"The workers have withdrawn their request for a Winter's Day bonus, that's fine, the people agree they can make it without extra money," The man gulped nervously, "but sir… closing the factory for just one day to let everyone spend time with their family would mean a lot to them."

The older man stopped in his tracks, "Spend time with family? Bah! I'm doing them a favor by keeping them working."

"Mister Durel," The younger man tried a different approach, "a lot of the workers have children, and this holiday is especially important to those kids. Shouldn't they have their parents home with them on Winter's Day?"

"These children need to get used to the idea that the real world doesn't believe in their silly little ideas like holidays," Mister Durel spoke flatly, "The factory stays open, and all employees are expected to be at their posts being _productive_!" With an air of finality to his words, Mister Durel turned and stormed through.

"Whoa…" Gohan muttered once both men were out of earshot.

Bit nodded, "Yeah, that was Mister Durel, he owns this factory; we definitely don't want to end up on his bad side."

"No kidding," Gohan checked the radar and they continued on.

"So you said these _Dragon Balls_ of yours can fix things?" Bit finally asked, "What kind of things?"

"All kinds of things," Gohan admitted, "They're really powerful and can turn back _mistakes_and make them as if they never happened."

Bit chuckled, "Did you hear that from the tooth fairy?"

"You'll see," Gohan smirked as they entered a larger room. The beeping was indicating they were close, very close. It was in this room. Gohan scanned over the walls and places he thought it might be. "I think it's…"

Before Gohan could state his thought, a voice from behind startled them, "Phillip Bit Durel, What the hell have I told you about coming down into the factory?!"

"Run!" Panicked, Bit grabbed onto Gohan's jacket and the two started running back down the hall.

Footsteps could be heard chasing after them from behind, "You damn ignorant brat, where the hell do you think you're going?"

Bit's speed increased as he sprinted through the hall way with Gohan keeping pace beside him.

"Do you think this is funny?!" The shouting voice behind them was still moving but sliding back as they pulled away, "You stupid brat, you're garbage just like the filth you cling to!"

They reached the room with the port windows, and Gohan quickly lifted Bit out through the top before anyone else was able to find them.

Before the window shut the voice shouted out, "Don't think you can hide forever, you'll crawl home eventually!"

Bit ran toward the alleyway with Gohan not far behind. Once they were in a secluded spot, Bit sank down, breathing hard like he was trying to catch his breath.

Gohan gave the boy a moment, realizing that was a good amount of running they just did. A shudder in Bit's shoulders caught Gohan's attention though as he realized there were other sounds coming from the boy. He was crying again, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Bit shook his head vehemently.

Something finally clicked in Gohan's head as he looked over Bit carefully, "Bit… that man said some terrible things to you… that wasn't just over us being in the factory was it?"

There was no answer for a moment, but then in a cracking voice Bit replied, "No…"

Gohan kneeled down beside the boy, "Bit, the owner of the factory, Mister Durel… Who is that man to you?"

Through sniffs and wheezes Bit finally admitted, "He's my dad…"

* * *

End Chapter

I'm glad this chapter came together well, I feel like we're set up nicely for the what comes next now even if it's only hint between the lines at this point. Somebody's probably going to say, "Winter's Day?" and yes, I wanted a generic name for the holiday and the name seemed to fit the DBZ world quite well. I mean, North City? West City?

Anyway, more fun and action coming soon, I can't wait!

'Till next time!


	3. Dwelling on the Past

Ack! I'm a day late! Sorry I got sick this week and didn't feel like getting on my computer at all. Stupid winter getting people sick… or should I blame heaters? You know when you walk outside and it's 40 degrees then you walk back inside and it's 80, and you keep going back and forth all day long you're bound to catch something.

Anyway, a new chapter is ready. A few people seem to have a bit of an idea where this is going, but there are plenty of twists to come!

* * *

Chapter 3: Dwelling on the Past

* * *

Winter's grasp held North City tight in its palm it seemed. The windows in homes across the city fogged from a layer of ice crystals while smoke gently wafted from their chimneys. The heavy clouds above relinquished and began to drop a fresh coat of snow across the quiet town.

Gohan cupped his hands at his mouth and blew his breath into them before rubbing them together to try and stay warm. He had been following Bit in silence for a few minutes now. Despite Gohan's efforts, the other boy hadn't said much since they were chased out of the factory.

Unable to take the silent treatment anymore, Gohan picked up his step with a slight hop to walk alongside his new friend, "Are you alright?"

Bit halted his march and rubbed his sleeve across his face and nodded, "Yeah I'm cool." While his wrist was up he caught sight of the time on his watch, "Oh, I need to umm…"

A long moment of thought passed, which left Gohan confused. "What is it that you need?" Gohan asked out of genuine concern.

With a final sniff the emotional expression cleared from Bit's face, "You know what… come with me!" Bit quickly ran off in another direction.

"What is it?" Gohan kept up just behind Bit as the boy turned down several streets and alleys.

Without slowing his sprint, Bit called over his shoulder, "There's something that always makes me feel better that I want to show you." The two entered a residential area and slowed, "Just stay quiet and please promise not to tell anyone."

Gohan was still confused as bit hopped the back fence into a yard of a small home. "What are we doing here?"

Bit turned around with his finger to his lips, "Shhh!"

Gohan scratched his head and tried to just go along with it. Bit seemed to know what he was doing as he grabbed a stack of cartons that were left behind the house and placed them underneath a window. He checked the cartons for a moment to make sure they were stable before he climbed up on top of them and looked inside. He seemed to be satisfied and motioned for Gohan to climb up and join him.

Still unsure of what was going on; Gohan joined Bit at the window and noticed Bit looking intently inside through the glass. Gohan glanced inside to see what Bit was looking at and saw a girl sitting in a chair angled only slightly toward the window. A book was in her lap and her hand was brushing across the pages.

"Who is she?" Gohan whispered.

"Shhh," Bit shushed him again.

A chime sounded inside the house signaling the turn of the hour. The girl closed her book and stood from the chair. She walked over to an old radio and turned it on. A commercial was on announcing Winter's Day specials, but the girl stood by the radio intently.

Gohan was about to drop down from the window when Bit grabbed onto his arm, "It's time," he whispered softly.

The radio DJ carried on, "…we're glad to bring you back to another hour classical Winter's Day melodies starting with Katherine Jenkins, Silence is All You Know."

It still wasn't clear what was going on to Gohan until the song began and a beautiful voice came forth not only from the radio, but an equally beautiful and hypnotizing hymn resonated from the girl as well. The steady rhythm silenced Gohan from saying anything further as the lyrics began, "~When you're alone, Silence is all you know."

A sleepy smile crossed Bit's face as he rested his head on his arms on the window sill and listened, "~Let in the noise and let it grow."

Gohan couldn't help himself and watched with his mouth hanging open, "~When you're alone, silence is all you see. When you're alone, silence is all you'll be."

Bit's eyes closed and his head simply swayed from side to side with the melody, "~Give me your hand, and come to me."

The girl was completely immersed in the song as her voice carried through much stronger and clearer than the small old radio, "~When you are here, music is all around. When you are near, music is all around."

Easing up in his posture, Gohan joined Bit in hanging lazily on the window sill, just listening, "~Open your eyes, don't make a sound."

The girl was practically dancing around the room as she continued the song, "~Let in the shadow, let in the shadow, let in the light of your bright shadow."

Both boys swayed happily with the upbeat of the tempo, "~Let in the light, let in the light, let in the light of your sweet shadow."

The song calmed, and the girl's voice began to taper with the rhythm, "~When you're alone, oh, silence is all you know. Silence is all, silence is all around."

The song ended and the girl turned down the volume of the radio. She turned from the radio and directly faced the window. Gohan guiltily dove under the window to hide. Bit thumped Gohan on the head as he lowered himself from the window at a much calmer pace, "She can't see you," he whispered, "she's blind."

"Oh," Gohan blushed sheepishly.

They quietly put the cartons back where they had found them and climbed back out of the yard.

As they walked Gohan noticed the grin on Bit's face hadn't budged, "So…" Gohan started, "Do you go there often?"

Bit chuckled a little nervously, "Not too often, you know, mostly just when I'm feeling down."

Gohan smirked deviously, "Not too often huh? I mean, nowhere near often enough to know the exact time she normally sings with the radio or anything like that?"

Bit stopped and cringed, "You won't tell anyone will you?"

"I promised I wouldn't," Gohan shook his head, "I keep my promises."

"Cool," the two continued walking, though it was obvious Bit's attention still hadn't returned to the present.

Just as Bit continued to look dopey with his grin, Gohan continued to glance at him with a teasing smirk, "I get it!"

"What?" Bit gulped not liking the look Gohan was giving him.

Gohan nudged Bit from the side, "You like her huh? And I mean, not just an admirer from afar like her, but you like her like her!"

Bit put his hands up defensively, "I… uhh… you see…" Gohan could only laugh as Bit continued to blush and grin throughout his stammering defense. At first the laughing just caused Bit to blush harder, but eventually he grinned and laughed as well, "Okay, so maybe I do."

"What's her name?" Gohan asked.

With a sigh Bit gave out, "Carol… Carol Jewel."

"A pretty name too," Gohan thought for a minute, "She has to be a nice person to be able to sing like that, does she know you like her?"

Bit looked down and shrugged, "Umm… well… yeah, kind of."

A change came over Bit's demeanor which didn't go unnoticed by Gohan, "Does she like you back?"

"I think so… I mean… she acts like she likes me…" Bit stammered.

Still seeing more too it, Gohan tried digging a little further, "Then what's the problem?"

"It's complicated, let's not talk about it," Bit shoved his hands in his pockets and kept walking.

Gohan was tempted to say something else; unfortunately his stomach beat him to it and released a grumbly roar that echoed through the alleyway, "…I think it's almost dinner time."

Bit looked shocked for a moment at the loud noise, but broke out into a fit of laughter, "Did that come from you?! I thought a bear was on the loose for a minute!"

It was Gohan's turn to look embarrassed as he scratched his head sheepishly, "It does that, though it is getting a little late huh?"

"Yeah," the street lamps around them all flickered on as if to signify the dusky hour. "You know what? You should come spend the night at my house tonight!"

"Are you sure that would be a good idea?" Gohan asked a little concerned. "I mean, your dad might not like just having someone over out of nowhere."

"Don't worry, he won't even know," Bit grinned sincerely enough, "He goes home to sleep for like four hours a day, really I never even see him; it's not a big deal."

"Well…" Gohan thought about it, "I guess it'd be cool… oh but… I have to ask my mom…"

"Here, you can use my phone," Bit offered while holding his capsule phone out.

Chichi was folding Goku's clothes at the Son house when she heard the phone ring, "Hello?"

"Hi mom, it's me!" Gohan greeted.

"Hi sweetie," Chichi realized something was off and concern grew in her voice, "Okay, it's really strange that you'd call instead of just pop in, what's going on?"

Gohan chuckled nervously, "Actually I'm calling because I made a new friend and he invited me to spend the night at his house, would that be alright?"

There was a long moment of silence on the phone which seemed to last all the longer to Gohan as he thought through counter measures to the questions his mother would surely ask, "Alright, that's fine with me, and I'm sure your father won't have a problem with it either. Stay safe, and be home in time for dinner tomorrow."

Shock and surprise was evident on Gohan's face as he blinked a few times completely not believing what he'd just heard, "Umm, are you feeling alright mom?"

"Of course," Chichi laughed, "Have fun Gohan, love you!"

"Love you too…" Gohan hung up the phone and handed it back to Bit, "She said yes."

"Great! Then…" Bit was interrupted again as Gohan put his hands to his stomach and it grumbled loudly. Bit covered his mouth to try and stifle his giggling brought on by the noise, "There should be plenty of food cooked and ready by now. Let's go eat."

"Yeah, sounds great!" Gohan followed close behind as Bit led the way to his house.

The two ran down the streets toward the city's uptown area. At the end of an upscale street was a huge manor like home, not as modern as the Capsule Corporation complex, but splendid in its own classical way. Gohan took a moment to stand on the outside of the gate and stare at it, "This is a nice place."

A shrug was all the reaction Bit gave, "Thanks, I guess."

The door was secured with a special keypad which Bit had to both swipe a card and enter a key combination to open. The huge double door opened into a grand foyer with a double stair case and halls leading in three directions. All in all it was dimly lit, most of the light was ambient coming off of large portraits hanging throughout the room.

"Melonie, I'm home, and I brought a guest!" Bit yelled.

"Melonie?" Gohan asked curiously.

"Yeah, she's sort of the caretaker of the house," Bit clarified.

The silhouette of a large woman appeared in the hall to their right, "Master Bit, is that snow on your shoes and coat?!"

Bit noticed he had a dusting of snow on him, "Sorry!" He scrambled to the closet off the side of the foyer and took off his shoes and coat and neatly left them in designated places, "Let me put your jacket in here too, Melonie will kill us if we track snow through the house."

As Bit took Gohan's jacket he finally noticed the subtle logos embroidered along the collar and shoulders, "This is a nice Capsule Corp. jacket, do your parents work there?"

"No," Gohan shook his head simply, "Bulma Briefs gave it to me."

Bit was quiet for a moment and then then name sunk in, "…Bulma Briefs? The owner of Capsule Corp? You know her?"

Gohan nodded, "Oh yeah, she's been a friend of my family's for a long time; I've gotten to travel with her to a lot of great places and help out with her inventions."

A big smile worked its way to Bit's face, "This is great! Then if anyone asks anything about why we're friends then just follow me lead, ok?"

Gohan's eyebrow raised in further confusion, "Okay…"

The two approached Melonie who hadn't moved since she appeared in the hallway, "Melonie, this is my friend Gohan; he's from an inner circle of the Capsule Corporation. I've extended him our hospitality, please see to his needs."

Melonie read the confused look on Gohan's face and couldn't help but laugh, "Don't worry young Master Gohan, even I was taken aback by how serious Master Phillip was trying to sound. Not to worry, I will see to you… as long as I am able to," Melonie shook her head before turning back down the hall, "Dinner?"

"Yes please!" both boys shouted.

Once Melonie was out of earshot Gohan had to ask, "She sounded kind of sad when she said… 'as long as I'm able', how come?"

Bit shook his head, "She means that if my dad gets home in a bad mood he might overrule any offering I've extended, but don't worry about it. Like I said, he never comes home to do more than sleep for a few hours before going back to the factory anymore."

Gohan was about to offer to leave to avoid any trouble, but then caught a whiff of the smell permeating from the kitchen. Any thought of objecting to their hospitality wafted away as he followed the scent in a near hypnotic trance.

Melonie heard the stomach grumble that echoed in from two rooms away, "Oh dear, I'm glad we have plenty of food." Though it started off as a joke, she realized by the eighth plate they'd be most fortunate if the food they had prepared was enough.

Bit also was unprepared to witness the ferocity at which a saiyan sates their metabolism.

Realizing that Gohan wasn't paying much attention to anything besides the food in front of him now, Melonie had a chance to ask Bit, "So how is it really that you know him?"

"Really, his family is in the know with the Briefs' of Capsule Corporation," Bit urged.

"Alright I believe you, save that one for your father," Gohan hadn't batted an eye at their conversation so she continued, "But how did you two meet?"

Bit looked away for a moment seeming discouraged, "There were some boys from town who had me cornered and were trying to beat me up. They were upset about the things father is doing I think. I tried to tell them it had nothing to do with me and that father wouldn't even care if they did anything to me, it definitely wouldn't make him change his mind about how he runs things."

"Bit…" Melonie drew out trying to sound supportive.

"Sorry I got off track," Bit straightened back out, "But before they could get at me Gohan showed up and told them off and chased them away."

"I see…" Melonie smiled.

The last plate in front of Gohan was emptying off at a calmer pace before the saiyan boy pushed the empty dish aside and sighed looking content.

"Are you… full… Master Gohan?" Melonie asked politely.

"Yes, thank you!" Gohan turned and put his hand over his mouth to, unsuccessfully, try to cover a burp.

Bit giggled more at Gohan's antics, "Are you starved at home or something?"

Gohan shook his head quickly, "No, I normally eat about this much."

"Oh growing boys…" Melonie shook her head and laughed herself. Gohan frowned, however Melonie took the look as a sign of embarrassment, "Not to worry, you're welcome to eat as much as you like around here. Thank you very much for coming to the aid of Master Phillip today, you have my gratitude."

That caused Gohan some mild embarrassment, "Really, I didn't do anything much…"

Melonie stood from the table, "Well I shall retire to my quarters for the evening and leave you two to your devices. Let me know if you need anything."

"Good night Melonie," Bit called after her as she left the room.

Once Melonie was away, Bit jumped out of his seat, "Come on, I'll show you around."

After a quick tour around the house, Bit was teaching Gohan how to play a board game called Khet in one of the dens. "So it's like Chess, but with lasers," Gohan looked over the pieces in admiration before making his move.

"I guess it's something like that," Bit agreed and made his move next.

From the front of the house, a chime rang out signaling the front door opening which was followed by a very loud slam and harsh footsteps echoing through the halls, coming closer.

"Oh crap, dad's home!" Bit jumped up from his seat and looked around the room in panic. Coming up with a plan he put his hands on Gohan's shoulders, "Gohan, I need you to hide."

"Huh?" Gohan tilted his head to the side.

The stomping footsteps were getting closer, "Trust me, it's easier this way. Just hide in the supply closet for a few minutes until my dad leaves. And no matter what you hear, you have to promise you won't come out or do anything to let my dad know you're here."

"But…" Gohan didn't like where this was going.

"Please!" Bit forced through his teeth.

Gohan chewed his lip before nodding and letting Bit shove him into the closet.

"PHILLIP!" The gruff yell startled both of them as Bit tried to put space between himself and the closet door.

"I…" Bit swallowed nervously, "I'm in here father…"

The steps slowed as Mister Durel entered the room. Bit stood before his father, his gaze downcast toward the floor. The two stood before each other for a moment in silence.

"Well?" Mister Durel started, "Just what the hell do you think you were doing in the factory earlier today?!"

Bit gulped as he thought out his response, "Father I wa…"

"You weren't alone," Mister Durel interrupted the boy, "who were you with?!"

Bit tried to answer, "His name is G…"

Mister Durel continued immediately, "What the hell were you thinking taking someone into the factory?!"

Bit was getting emotional and starting to breathe hard, "I'm…"

Bit's father continued to roll over him with more demanding questions, "Do you realize how sensitive the equipment in there is?!"

Bit tried to look his father in the eye directly to show he was sincere, "I would nev…"

Again Mister Durel pushed his son's response aside, "That boy must be a friend of the cripple I caught you with isn't he?"

Bit's eyes widened and his teeth grit tight as a frustrated wave of anger finally flooded over him, "Carol can't see; that doesn't make her a cripple!"

Mister Durel's face turned red as he fumed over, "Don't you dare talk back to me!" The man whipped his arm around and struck Bit across the face with back of hand sending the boy to the floor.

An angry grunt sound came from the closet. Mister Durel thought he heard something and looked up noticing the closet door slightly ajar. He left the boy on the floor and slowly approached the closet door and inspected it for a moment. Bit looked up nervously as his dad had his hand on the knob. The man threw the door open, but the closet was empty. He quickly inspected the shelves before throwing the door shut again.

Bit climbed back to his feet and resumed his position with his face turned down toward his feet. "Boy, you are to behave, and start portraying a role worthy of our family's reputation. And by god there is plenty more pain coming if you haven't learned your lessons yet. No more foolishness, no more making a mockery of our family, and, for god's sake, think about who you go around playing kissy face with before you do it! What would the neighbors think if they had seen you and that…" the man made a disgusted sound before storming from the room.

Once the man was gone, Bit turned back toward the closet, but Gohan was standing next to him already. Bit leaned into his friend and cried for a few minutes. Gohan wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he wasn't a fan of that man at all.

Bit began to calm and pulled away, "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Don't worry about it," Gohan offered a consoling smile and then moved in closer to check Bit over. Bit was a little put off as Gohan looked into his eyes and tilted his face to get a better look at the side of his head, "It doesn't look like you have a concussion, though that will probably leave a bruise. We should probably put some ice on it right away."

Bit nodded, "Don't make such a fuss over it, I've had worse, okay?"

Gohan's eyes widened as he took in that information. Bit noticed his friend's hand was shaking and he knew he had said the wrong thing.

With an effort to liven things back up, Bit points to the table, "Let's finish up our game."

A few hours later, Bit tossed his ice pack away as he led Gohan to his room. As they climbed the stairs Gohan noticed the large portrait at the landing of the stair case. The man in the portrait was obviously a younger version of Bit's father, but there was a woman standing beside him in the picture. Gohan looked up at it for a moment, "Is that?"

Bit looked up and smiled, "Yeah, that's my mom."

Gohan was about to ask about her but stopped himself realizing it might not be a good thing to ask about.

Sensing what Gohan was thinking though, Bit answered anyway, "Yeah… she died four years ago."

Gohan looked away from the picture, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Bit kept staring at the picture, "This was the time of year that she really loved. The snowfall and Winter's Day. She used to decorate the house with lights and then had every radio in the house on playing Winter's Day songs. I remember she would even volunteer at a lot of places around town to help make sure people had food and shelter. She used to say that there was no excuse to let someone go cold or hungry on Winter's Day."

Gohan looked back up at the portrait again, "She sounds like a great person."

"Mmmhmm," Bit agreed. "She used to take long walks while it was snowing outside. She loved watching snow fall. But she went out during a snowfall one night, and then… People went looking for her the next day… she was found frozen under a sheet of snow."

"That's terrible…" Gohan looked away, "I'm…"

"It's okay, she loved the snow. Dad took it bad though. He spent all his time working after that. Spending all his time at his factory now, he never comes home unless he's mad about something. He gets especially mad at the anniversary of mom's death, right at Winter's Day."

"You're stronger than your dad is you know?" Gohan stated while still looking over the detail in the portrait.

"What are you talking about?" Bit laughed while rubbing his cheek.

"You refused to let tragedy in your life consume you, that makes you really strong," Gohan complimented sincerely.

Bit looked away embarrassedly, "We should go to bed."

Bit's room was an impressive size. He had a desk at one end with a computer and a large bed opposite of it near a window that opened to a balcony. Bit turned out the light and the two crawled under the covers.

They were quiet for a few minutes in the dark, "Hey Bit?"

"Yeah?" Bit rolled over to face Gohan.

"Umm," Gohan turned as well, "I want to ask you something, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Bit tried to prepare himself for whatever question was coming, "Okay, go ahead."

"Alright," Gohan gulped, "You've… you've really kissed a girl before?"

Not expecting that question, Bit was sure his cheeks turned a shade of magenta, "Umm… well… kind of… but it wasn't like… a serious kiss or anything."

Gohan's brow furrowed as he thought about what Bit said, "What's the difference between a kiss and a serious kiss then?"

Bit started giggling to himself. Gohan was confused and sat up to get a better look at his friend. Bit realized the confused look on Gohan's face meant his question was serious, "Oh, I'm sorry…" After thinking for a moment, Bit finally rationalized, "Well a quick kiss is just like… you know… a regular kiss on the lips. Nothing fancy about it at all. A serious kiss is supposed to last for a lot longer and your tongues are supposed to do stuff."

Gohan's eyes widened, "Your tongues?!"

Bit couldn't help himself as he giggled again to Gohan's reaction, "Well yeah, people say it's really cool."

Gohan nodded and sank back to his pillow.

Another quiet moment passed, "Gohan?"

"Yeah?" Gohan turned over again.

"Have you ever kissed anyone before?" Bit returned the question.

Gohan looked down in thought, "Well… sort of…"

"What do you mean sort of?" Bit grinned.

"Well," Gohan started, "I guess I was kind of kissed twice… but the first time it was more of a girl saying thank you than anything else, and the second time was more of a joke thanks to a friend of mine…"

There seemed to be a bit of downcast emotion in Gohan's voice which Bit caught onto, "I wouldn't worry about it Gohan, I think you'll get a real kiss soon."

"Why would you say that?" Gohan tried not to scoff at the idea.

"I've only known you for today, but I know you're nice and really strong," Bit smiled and shrugged, "I just think there has to be a lot of people out there who'd like to kiss you."

Gohan giggled sheepishly, "Thanks."

"Yeah," Bit grinned and rolled back over.

Gohan put his hands behind his head and started nodding off to sleep.

A ping spiked across his head causing Gohan to shoot up to a sitting position, "What was that?"

Bit rolled over again, "What was what?"

"I felt something… something weird," Gohan closed his eyes and put two fingers against his forehead.

"Felt? Umm… like… how weird?" Bit looked around his room and under the covers.

Gohan's eyes snapped open, "There's something in your house… downstairs." Gohan got up and walked to the door.

"Downstairs? What are you talking about?" Bit followed curiously after Gohan.

The house was almost completely dark as the two boys tiptoed through the halls. Every several meters Gohan would stop and put two fingers to his head again in concentration. Bit thought it was odd, but Gohan would pick a direction and keep walking.

The pattering of their bare feet against the tile echoed down the hall once they made it to the foyer. Gohan held his finger to his lips to urge Bit to tread quietly as they snuck down a different hallway.

Bit yawned after not having seen anything significant in nearly fifteen minutes of wandering around the dark house, "What are you looking for?" he whispered.

"I don't know…" Gohan tried focusing his senses again but couldn't seem to pinpoint what he was feeling or where it was, "Maybe I'm just tired, but I swear that something feels really weird and is coming from right around here."

"If there's nothing here then we should go back to bed," Bit urged.

Still unable to lock his senses onto anything specific, Gohan nodded, "You're probably right."

The two turned around and through the doorway now before them both saw an eerie translucent figure with a slight glow float through the next room. Both boys stood frozen for a minute as the hairs on the back of their necks stood straight out.

Bit grabbed onto Gohan and held tight, "Was that a… a… a… Ghost?"

Rather than look scared, a smile actually formed on Gohan's lips, "We should follow it!"

"Are you crazy?!" Bit gulped hard as Gohan pulled him along for the ride toward the door. They looked inside the room and saw the specter float through a closed double doorway to the hall on the other side of the room, "That's a real ghost!"

"Maybe…" Gohan hurried over and pushed the door open to keep following it. The two were able to quietly catch up and tail behind it for a minute and get a good look at its features, or rather lack thereof.

Bit was nearly trembling, "Its face… it has no nose and looks so flat. Why would a ghost look like that?"

Gohan nodded and grinned to himself, "I get it now; you see it's not actually a ghost at all! It's been throwing off my senses because it's an extra dimensional entity that basically exists on a phase plane of a higher magnitude than our own which is what gives it that ethereal appearance that we'd associate with ghost stories…" Gohan looked back over his shoulder and noticed Bit was staring at him with his mouth hanging open, a lost look of confusion written about him, "Or… you could just… never mind everything I just said, we'll just call it a ghost, yeah?"

"Alright…" Bit seemed slightly less shaken up, "but what is it doing in my house?"

"Now _that_ is a very good questions!" Gohan sped up to get closer to the being, "We should ask it and find out."

"What?!" Bit shook his head not believing Gohan was just walking right up to such a strange thing.

"Excuse me," Gohan called out loudly, "could we speak with you for a moment?"

The "ghost" stopped and slowly turned around. It seemed to stare at both boys for a moment through deep black eyes before it hovered toward them. Gohan watched intently as the entity opened its mouth wide but released only a banshee like wail. Both boys covered their ears as the ethereal specter ignited into flames, lighting the entire room with a bright orange light, while it continued its howl and turned to fly down the hall towards a staircase.

Unable to take anymore, Bit yelled in panic and grabbed onto Gohan's arm before dragging him back down the hallway. Gohan looked over his shoulder and just made out the sight of the burning apparition taking the stairs down to the basement.

"Bit, Bit stop!" Bit finally heard Gohan and hadn't even realized that Gohan was holding him in place and keeping him from running. The haze in his head cleared as he started to catch his breath.

"I'm good…" Bit spoke between breaths, "sorry…"

"Don't worry, it's not every day you see something like that," Gohan worked to calm his friend.

A door opened from the hallway, "What in the heck is going on over here?"

The boys turned with a start and saw Melonie in the doorway staring at them, "We…" Bit tried to explain, "We saw a ghost in the hallway, it was going down the stairs and we were following it."

Melonie put a hand to her shaking head and laughed, "Oh my, would you look at these brave little ghost hunters, stalking ghosts in their boxer shorts… Get to bed, both of you!"

"Yes ma'am!" Bit gulped and dragged Gohan back up the stairs.

"I still need to talk to it!" Gohan called out sounding frustrated.

Bit shook his head, "It's not often than Melonie gives an order, but when she does you follow it!"

Gohan frowned but realized he wasn't sensing anything unusual in the house anymore, "Alright…"

Bit shut the door to his room in a hurry and put his back to it looking relieved, "Wow, I've never seen anything like that before. That was exciting huh?"

Gohan nodded, "Yeah no kidding, what did you think?"

"What do you mean?" Bit sounded confused.

"Would you do it again? Go after a ghost like that I mean," Gohan explained himself.

Bit thought for a second, "Yeah, definitely."

"Cool," Gohan smiled, "We should get some sleep then, I get the feeling tomorrow's going to be a busy day."

"A busy Winter's Day," Bit smiled as well, "Good night Gohan."

* * *

End Chapter

I couldn't help but throw in a song in this chapter. I heard it last year and just fell in love with the tune. So much of this story is about character development, I hope everyone is getting to enjoy it because it's really fun for me to have the chance to delve into some psyches and dig out things that are going on in there. I'm really enjoying having the chance to write about events so far that are relatively ordinary but being taken in from the viewpoint of someone who very extraordinary. There are so many different issues popping up where from one to the other I see Gohan jumping back and forth between being exceptionally mature and knowledgeable to being naïve and questioning, unsure and childlike. Please drop me a line and let me know what you think so far!

'Till next time!


	4. Blind to the Present

Yo everybody!

A new chapter is finally ready here. I'm kind of disheartened because I had to write part of it twice, and I don't think I had as good of a mood the second time through as I did the first time. I posted a little story on what happened that caused me to have to write some of it twice on my tumblr account. If you're interested you can see it by going to revstuff dot com, or following the link from my profile page.

This chapter has a lot of fun in it, so I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 4: Blind to the Present

* * *

Light filtered through the clouds from the northeastern horizon in the early morning hours in North City. The beams of sunlight, which pierced the layer of clouds, were clearly visible as they were trailed through ice crystals still floating about the crisp mountain air. But like any other normal morning, the people of North City rose from their beds, donned their work clothes, and began their typical daily routine.

Children watched as their parents begrudgingly tromped out of their homes, a whisper of "Happy Winter's Day," spoken faintly under their breath.

* * *

Once again Bit was left astonished at the dining room table as Gohan wolfed down an overly hearty breakfast, "Where does it all go?"

Within seconds a large stack of pancakes disappeared, "You should see my dad, he still needs more food than I do." Gohan pulled over a tray of omelets and dug in.

Being near Gohan had inspired Bit to demolish nearly four plates of egg scramble, though now he was regretting it, "I'm not going to be able to move for the rest of the day!"

Melonie walked through the dining room and shook her head at Bit, "This is why it's important to do things at your own pace Master Phillip."

Bit nodded his head from where he remained collapsed on the table.

"I have some morning errands to run, some paperwork to drop off for Mister Durel and all that; will you two be alright on your own for a little while?" Sometimes Melonie had a distinct motherly attitude towards Bit despite those duties technically not being part of her job description.

"Of course, we'll be fine," Bit ensured his favorite caretaker.

Melonie wrapped a scarf around her neck, "Very well, I'll be back in a few hours." Her footsteps were audible far down the hall as she left the house.

Gohan was still having himself a hearty serving of food when the bell on the service door in the back rang. "I'll be right back," Bit announced. He chuckled, as it didn't seem as though Gohan even noticed.

The locks to the backdoor were undone and Bit opened the door, "Hel…lo?"

A singsong voice greeted him, "Happy Winter's Day, Bit!"

"Carol! Happy Winter's Day!" Bit gulped, surprised the girl would be at his door. "What are you doing here this morning?"

The girl held up a basket and handed Bit a cool milk bottle, "My cousin who normally helps with the milk run is sick today, so I offered to take care of a few blocks."

"That's really nice of you!" Bit tried to sound energetic, but the immediate drop in conversation made the moment of silence afterward slightly awkward, "So… umm… How many more deliveries do you still have to make?"

"Actually this was my last one," Carol smiled sweetly.

"Oh… well then… can you come in for a little while?" Bit invited stepping aside.

"Of course, thank you," Carol stepped over the threshold without a problem and waited as Bit locked the door back up.

"Let me get you something to drink, would you like some juice?" Bit offered.

Carol followed him to the empty hall by the sound of his voice, "That would be great thanks."

"Alright, then I'll grab some real quick and be right back," Bit hurried over to the kitchen as Carol waited patiently in the hallway.

A minute passed as steps were approached the hallway from another room, turned the corner in front of Carol, and stopped, "Oh… hello." Not expecting to see the girl, Gohan gulped nervously.

Carol turned to Gohan's general direction, "Hello… Oh, so _you're _Bit's new friend!"

Gohan looked surprised, "Umm, yeah."

Bit returned with a few glasses of juice, "I didn't think you were going to be done with breakfast for a while yet," Bit chuckled.

"Nope, it's all gone," Gohan grinned sheepishly.

"Right," Bit rolled his eyes, "So Carol, this is my friend Gohan. Gohan, this is my friend Carol Jewel."

"Pleased to meet you," Carol gave another warm smile of hers as she and Gohan shook hands.

"Likewise," Gohan greeted cheerfully before they returned to the seats in the dining room.

"So how is it today Carol?" Bit asked as he plopped into a chair.

Carol's smile saddened slightly as she shrugged, "The mood around town that I saw while making the deliveries was glum but what can you do?"

Bit folded his hands in his lap and didn't look up, "Yeah…"

A look of sympathy crossed Gohan's face until something clicked in his head and he turned to Carol, "You're deliveries?"

Carol nodded, "Ah-huh, my cousin who does the milk run through here was sick today, so I did it for him."

Gohan looked to the side not sure what to say and not wanting to be rude, "Is that… umm… safe?"

Carol laughed, "Of course it is! I appreciate your concern, but I know this neighborhood _very_ well. I know every house, step, and bump in the area so it's really not a problem for me at all."

"Cool!" Gohan grinned sincerely.

"So what have you two been doing?" Carol asked generally.

"Oh!" Bit started up, "Gohan spent the night here last night, and it must have been around midnight that we saw a ghost in the house!"

"A ghost?" Carol laughed thinking Bit silly.

"Oh yeah!" Gohan jumped up from his seat, "I wanted to see where the… _ghost _went."

"The ghost went down into my basement, you should come with us to check it out Carol," Bit urged eagerly.

"Alright, sounds like fun," Carol stood from the seat and grabbed onto Bit's offered arm to follow the boys through the large house.

They reached the staircase the led down to the floor below, "What's down there?" Gohan asked first.

Bit shrugged, "Not much, some storage I think… I don't normally go down there."

Gohan nodded and descended the stairs.

Remembering the night before, Bit gulped nervously, "Alright, here we go…"

"It'll be fine," Carol teased as she followed Bit down, "I'll scare away the ghosts if need be."

Bit grunted but laughed as he and Carol took the stairs down.

The lights weren't on, and being that there were no windows made the basement exceptionally dark. Bit began feeling the wall for a light switch that he thought was nearby. He hadn't found anything when Gohan popped up in front of him, "There isn't a lot down here huh?"

Bit jumped back, breathing hard after getting a good start, "No… not really…"

Gohan chuckled to himself, "Sorry."

Bit shook the aggravation out of his system as he found the switch, "And, light." With the lights on the group could see two rooms leading off to the sides of the one they were currently in. The first was filled with old boxes and furniture. A lot of it had a very antique look to it. The second was the wine cellar filled with racks and bottles dating back many decades.

The three of them tore through boxes in the storage room for a little while, blowing dust off of old items. Gohan even found an old vinyl record player that started playing a song when he pressed the button.

"I like this song," Carol smiled as she listened to the classic.

"Stuff around here is old, but I don't see anything that would be especially interesting to an extra dim…" Gohan caught himself and quickly adjusted, "I mean a ghost."

"Would something have to be interesting to a ghost for it to come down here?" Bit questioned, "I mean why be in the house at all? It's not like the place is cursed or has ever been haunted before."

As the boys talked, Carol swayed her way across the hall still engrossed by the music.

"Maybe it specifically wanted to give us a message," Gohan thought out loud.

Recalling the experience, Bit commented, "All it did was scream at us and sort of catch fire."

"It's possible…" Gohan started, "that was the only way it could communicate…"

"Bit, Gohan!" Carol called from across the hall.

The two ran across immediately to check on her, "What's wrong?" Bit yelled as he ran into the wine cellar.

Carol was holding her hand up against one of the wine racks in the room, "Come feel this."

A confused look came across both Bit and Gohan as they stared at the wine rack. Bit took a closer look before he put his hand against the shelf, "What is it? I don't see or feel anything unusual about it."

Carol frowned but reached for Bit's hand and held it closer to the edge of the rack, "Can you feel it now?"

Gohan came closer and put his hand against the end of the rack as well. His eyes lit up as he realized what Carol must have been pointing out, "There's air moving through here!"

Carol nodded, "Right, there must be something behind the rack, possibly another room, for this much air to be passing through the space."

Looking over the various racks in the cellar, Bit put his finger to his lips in thought, "So, you think there might be something like a hidden passage, or…?"

Before he could finish, Gohan was sliding the rack out of the way, wine bottles and all still fully loaded on the shelves. There was a loud metal snap and ping noise that caused Gohan to involuntarily cringe, "Oops…"

Behind the large rack was a mechanism that at one time had been able to slide the rack forward and back like a door, "Well it _was_ a secret passage…"

Everyone nodded and entered the back room.

Inside the room were racks of clothes, jewelry, boxes, pictures, radios, a piano, as well as victorian decorations such as vases and candle stands.

Silence spread throughout the group as Bit slowly stepped into the room. He ran his hand through one of the dresses hanging on a rod, "It's… my mom's… All of it… this stuff, it's my mom's."

Carol approached Bit and hugged him tenderly without saying a word. Gohan didn't know what to say either; his gaze remained affixed to the floor.

"I'm alright guys," Bit assured them after a sniff and sigh.

Carol let Bit go as she took a step back from him and continued to smile supportively.

"Someone's been in here recently," Gohan finally broke the silence.

Bit's enthusiasm returned, "Like the ghost?"

Gohan shook his head, "No, someone very real," Gohan pointed to a table where a glass of tea had been left. A few small pieces of ice were still float on top, not quite melted yet.

"My dad's…" Bit frowned wondering how often his father immersed himself in a room like this.

"There's another door," Gohan led his friends through a clothes rack, which was left far enough away from the wall for the door to open.

Gohan opens the door slowly to look inside, but then pulls it open the rest of the way revealing a long corridor like pathway.

"Let's see where it goes," Bit marched on in a determined manner.

The hall was only dimly lit, and seemed to extend a long ways. Bit was positive they were beyond the property lines of his house by then. Up ahead though there was light filtering in through what appeared to be windows.

"Are we above ground again?" Gohan wondered as he hopped over to the windows to take a look.

Bit approached with Carol and took a look as well, "Oh." Through the windows was a clear view of the factory. They were looking through windows raised at least fifteen feet above the work floor. "I've seen these windows from inside the factory before. They're like a bunch of mirrors over the place that I always thought there was a room behind, but I never knew how to get up here."

A hiss of steam blew by the window drawing Gohan's attention. Robotic arms on the work floor were soldering electrical components on one side, which were then moved to a vat of freezing liquid nitrogen and were dropped inside.

"What is it that this factory makes?" Gohan asked out of curiosity.

Bit shrugged uninterested, "Dad calls the main products onnsium high temperature superconductors… I don't get it though since most of the parts have to be frozen in order for them to work."

"Superconductors…" Gohan watched the factory for a moment longer before shaking his head, "It's relative high temperature because they work at greater than negative a thousand degrees."

"Huh?" Bit asked looked confused while Carol giggled, "You say the weirdest things sometimes Gohan."

"Sorry," Gohan responded to the comment but it didn't seem as though he was paying attention. Something else had his mind racing. Without another word he turned and continued walking down the hall.

"Hey, not so fast!" Bit called out as he and Carol chased after him.

The hallway and the windows carried on for several hundred meters, making turns to follow the factory wall, "An observation deck over a factory of superconductors… one way glass…" Gohan mumbled to himself as he tried not to walk too fast for his friends.

"Yeah, and?" Bit wasn't sure why Gohan seemed to be stressing about something.

"It's practically new, well maintained, and clean," Gohan was still trying to connect the pieces.

Bit ran in front of Gohan, "You're freaking us out, so it's clean and nice and everything, what's the big deal?"

Gohan looked away, "The big deal is why have you never been here before?"

Bit took in a hitched breath and was quiet for a moment, "My dad's like that, he never really shows me anything."

"Gohan, what are you trying to say?" Carol asked as she reached for Bit's hand.

Gohan bit his lip for a moment, "I'm sorry Bit, but you've shown interest in the factory, you've even broken in to it before to see what goes on inside. And as angry as your dad was with you for being in the factory saying that you could have gotten hurt, or broken something… he never brought you to a place where you could watch what happens in the factory safely and without the risk of breaking anything?"

Bit's jaw began to quiver as he thought about Gohan's words.

Carol felt the tremble through her grasp on Bit's hand, "Gohan! That was a really heartless thing to say!"

A shocked look came over Gohan as he realized how they took his words and he quickly shook his head, "I'm sorry I really didn't mean it that way because I don't think that's the answer at all." Gohan rubbed his hand along the railing under the window before examining his hand closely, "There's a much bigger reason why you've never been here."

"I still don't understand…" Bit choked emotionally.

Gohan hugged Bit, "I'm sorry, the reason he never brought you here is because this place is much more dangerous."

Bit shook the tears from his face quickly, "What?!"

Forgoing further explanation, Gohan turned and continued down the hall. At the end of another turn in the corridor was a staircase leading down, "I think we're close to where our ghost went."

The stairs spiraled down, much deeper than the factory itself. They ended in a large warehouse like room filled with computers connected to a lot of strange equipment, tubes, and machinery. In the middle of it all was a huge ring held vertically up on a pedestal.

"That shouldn't be here…" Gohan mumbled as he looked over the devices.

"I've never seen anything like it before…" Bit gulped nervously, "What is it?"

"It's a rift generator," Gohan spoke barely above a whisper as his hand brushed the metallic surface of the object, "It opens doorways between ours and other worlds."

Carol gripped tightly onto Bit's arm as Bit continued to stare with his mouth hanging open, "How do you know all this, and what is it doing here?"

"Long story," Gohan started, "And I have no idea…"

"It opens doors to other worlds?" Carol asked with a hint of amazement in her voice, "Like where, where does it go?"

Gohan walked over to a computer and flipped a switch, "That's a good question, let's find out!"

Once the lever was thrown, the surface of the ring began to glow until the space within the ring filled with energy and bounded like a bubble. Without much further regard Gohan walked through the translucent glow, leaving a ripple in the surface after disappearing through it.

"He just went," Bit gulped nervously.

"He seemed pretty confident about it, we should follow him," Carol encouraged.

Bit nodded, "Okay…" He held her hand tighter as they walked through rippling surface as well.

The glow around them faded instantaneously as if they just passed through a normal doorway. The light on the other side was different, but they were surrounded by metal and an open sky. Tubes and wires were strewn about connecting panel to panel.

"The noise here _is_ different," Carol mentioned, "things are buzzing, but I can't tell what kind of buzz it is."

"There is a lot of light, but things don't look _that_ alien," Bit felt the panel on the wall with wires and tubes coming out of it, "I don't see any weird twisted rock formations, or a plaid sky. Actually it just feels really modern, and a lot like… well… earth…"

"There's a reason for that!" Gohan popped out from behind some equipment; startling Bit again. Gohan pulled open a conduit panel and pulled Bit open to take a look.

Bit's eyes widened as he read the label inside the panel, "Manufactured by Durel Onnsium Superconductors."

"Your dad built this place," Gohan stated as he kept a close eye on Bit. "Your company logo is all over the place, and these superconductors are running _massive_ amounts of electricity across this whole planet…" Gohan stopped for a moment, "Incredibly massive amounts of energy… I can feel it… it's not normal electricity at all…" Gohan closed his eyes and put two fingers to his head as he focused his senses.

Footsteps approached, clanking loudly on the metal surface and getting nearer, "Hide!" Gohan whispered as he quietly pulled Bit and Carol to the side and behind a pile of devices.

Three aliens turned the corner and walked past the rift generator.

"The spooks are mounting their forces again; think they're planning another attack?" A large muscular one asked.

A lithe alien brushed hair from his eyes, "It'd be more fuel for us if they did, Icival should be pleased with the results from the latest harvester."

A short alien bounced by his two companions, "If only the dwellers knew how pointless their attacks on us are!" He laughed maniacally, "At least this way the madder they get the more energy _we _collect off of them!"

The three continued on down turning another corridor and were quickly out of earshot.

"What were they?" Bit asked in a shaky voice.

"Standard phase extra-dimensional ent…" Gohan stopped realizing he was getting funny looks from both Bit and Carol, "They were aliens."

Bit nodded, "Yeah, of course, sorry."

"Don't sweat it," Gohan moved and walked down the path from whence the alien trio came. Carol and Bit followed slightly behind him.

Through the hallways of tall conduits, they came across a doorway into a completely sealed room. Gohan examined the door for a moment before putting his hands against it. He solidified his ki in the crack of the sliding door and forced it open. The chamber inside was dimply lit, and the walls were covered in what appeared to be drawers.

"What's in there?" Bit asked.

"I doubt these are file cabinets…" Gohan walked up to one of the small doors and pulled. An apparatus on rollers pulled out of a chute and suspended over the air in front of the trio. On top of the table like apparatus was a membrane like bag with an alien body inside.

"Whoa!" Bit jumped back out of shock, but gulped and took a closer look, "It's face! It's the same as the ghost we saw last night!"

Gohan nodded, "Very similar…" There were wires and sensors prodded into the alien being all over its body.

"Is it dead?" Bit asked.

"No, I can still sense it's life force," Gohan confirmed. "But… it's life force… isn't just in its body…"

"It's life force isn't in its body?" Carol asked confused, "Then where is it?"

Gohan followed the wires that connected everything together, tracing them back into the contraptions and conduits by the wall that joined the superconductors running throughout the complex, "Everywhere…"

The pieces started clicking together in Gohan's head, "Those aliens said if the spook's attack then more fuel for them… that ghost last night that came to us was burning… It wasn't trying to scare us, it was begging for help…"

"They need help? What's going on?" A shiver sank through Bit's spine as he was fairly certain what Gohan was going to say.

"They're being used as fuel… Someone is using living creatures as fuel for their power…" Gohan flipped another switch, which turned on lights below the platform floor they were standing on. It was transparent and possible to see down for hundreds of feet and see that every wall was covered the same kind of storage chutes. There had to have been thousands, maybe millions of them.

Gohan grit his teeth as anger began swelling through him. His breathing had obviously become deeper and more exaggerated as he tried to control his temper.

Snapping from the trance immediately, Gohan turned around and put a hand on Bit and Carol's shoulder, "Come on, we need to leave… now. We have to get back to our side of the rift in a hurry."

Urging them through the complex, Gohan got Carol and Bit back to the rift generator.

"What's going to happen to the aliens who are captured?" Carol asked glumly.

Bit's mind was racing as well, "We've got to tell someone what's going on here so they can do something!"

They reached the area with the alien side of the rift ring.

"Who can we possibly tell about another world under your dad's factory who'll listen though?" Carol reasoned.

Gohan started messing with the controls of the rift to open the link back up.

"There has to be someone who would listen to us, some kind of police force or government crew," Bit tried thinking of anything helpful

Finally after some playing, the rift came to life once again, creating a bubbling link of energy between their two worlds.

"Even if someone did believe us, what if they take too long, and something happens?" Carol was exceptionally empathetic to the alien's plight.

Gohan put his hands up on both of Carol's shoulders, "Don't worry, nothing is going to hurt them, I'll make sure if it myself, but first I have to get you guys home where you'll be safe, okay?"

Carol calmed down and sighed, "Alright, Bit trusts you Gohan, and I do too."

Gohan smiled and walked them both back through the rift, "Thanks."

"But we should still tell someone what's going on ove…" Bit started, but stopped once they exited the rift on earth's side.

Gohan immediately jumped in front of his friends as they came face to face with a large muscular alien, mostly white and light blue in skin town with an elongated head and thin eyes, and wore a long heavy black coat, "Oh, you're going to tell who about what now? I do so hate it when you humans snoop around places you shouldn't be."

Gohan's stance was as broad and defensive as he could manage, "You must be Icival, right?"

"You managed to hear that too?" Icival snickered.

The alien wasn't making a move so Gohan took a step forward, "Icival, you are intruding upon this dimension. You are hereby ordered to leave this realm immediately and return to the dimension from whence you came. Comply and no harm will come to you."

The room was silent as everyone stared in Gohan in shock, Icival included. Bit couldn't believe Gohan had managed to say something like that in complete seriousness.

The silence was eventually broken by Icival's laughter, it started as a chuckle, but quickly erupted into full hysterics, "Funny little human! Your words almost sound important!"

"This is no joke Icival," Gohan remained steadfast and firm, "This is the only warning you're going to get."

"Indeed, and whatever would I do without warnings…" Icival's laughter began to subside.

Gohan's eyes narrowed, he had the feeling something was up.

"I must thank you all for coming during the snowy weather, it helps a great deal in making your deaths look like accidents," Icival pulled out a gun from his coat and fired.

Not expecting a blaster to deal significant damage, Gohan spread his arms in front of his friends to take the hit and was struck by the beam. His eyes widened from shock as strange sensation wove its way through his body. His energy immediately left him and he felt weak, as if he couldn't hold his own weight and began to fall.

Out of reflex he grabbed onto Bit and Carol as he fell and in a flash of light the three of them vanished from the room.

Icival lowered his weapon and checked over the spot the three children had been standing. A sweat built up on his brow and a terribly frustrated and loud growl escaped him as he stepped through the rift.

* * *

Instantaneously Gohan, Bit, and Carol appeared in Bit's bedroom. Slightly disoriented for a moment, Bit wasn't able to act before Gohan collapsed to the floor.

"Gohan!" Bit cried out as he kneeled by Gohan's side. Gohan began to thrash and convulse on the floor, "Gohan what's wrong?!"

Gohan was unable to speak. His eyes were unfocused and his body continued to shake beyond his control.

Carol kneeled close to Gohan as well and put her hand on his head, "Bit, he's freezing!" As she spoke his skin paled and took on a bluish hue.

Bit ripped the blankets off of his bed and piled them on top of Gohan. They started rubbing his arms trying to warm him up, but within a few minutes his skin was so cold to the touch that it was stinging their hands.

The seizure like shaking was becoming stiffer, and condensation was beginning to freeze to Gohan's skin

Emotions heightened through Panic as Bit ran out of ideas, "What do we do?"

"I'm not sure," Carol was also working through tense emotions, "Is there anyone here who can help us?"

"Melonie might!" Without another second's hesitation, Bit shot up and ran from his room down the hall as fast as he could. Once he was in the main hall he began screaming, "MELONIE! HELP! I NEED HELP, MELONIE!"

Bit stopped in his tracks when a masculine voice shouted back, "What in hell's blazes do you want boy?!"

Bit cringed now that he had his father's attention. He knew there wasn't time for his dad's ranting, and though his dad was not the pillar of hope he'd been searching for, he ran up to him and grabbed his arm, "He could die, please help us!"

Mister Durel was dragged through the hall by his twelve year old son, and remained oddly quiet through the sprint. The reached Bit's bedroom where Carol was still near Gohan, "What in the hell are you doing with _her_ in your room?!"

Bit ran in and slid towards Gohan to check on what changed since he left, "We're trying to save Gohan, please help!"

Mister Durel bent over and put a hand on Gohan's head feeling the same stinging coldness the others had. He looked over Gohan's icy blue skin and shook his head, "…Son… this boy isn't going to make it…"

Mister Durel's hand moved from Gohan's forehead to over the boy's mouth to check for breathing. His lips crunched under the pressure of the man's hand and there was no reaction and no breath, "He's gone…"

Gohan's eyes snapped open and his shivering tremors resumed as he took in a sharp deep breath, "GREAT GALAXIES! How is he still…?" Mister Durel watched as Gohan continued to shake but the movement was becoming stiffer.

Mister Durel calmed and then came up with a plan, "Alright, we're going to need to get heat into him right away but gradually. We need to get a bathtub running with lukewarm water. We'll get him submerged in the water and slowly raise the temperature."

"Alright, I'll take care of the water," Carol stood and made her way to the bathroom.

A stunned look on his face, Mister Durel turned to his son, "Isn't she blind?"

Bit shook his head looking almost ashamed, "She knows where the bathroom is at and can take care of it no problem, really."

Mister Durel scrunched his face in aggravation, "Help me get his clothes off so we can get him in the water."

Mister Durel held Gohan's arms up while Bit pulled up on Gohan's shirt. Mister Durel's jaw began to quiver, "…What is that?"

Bit pulled Gohan's shirt all the way off, "What?"

Pointing to a black spot on Gohan's abdomen, Mister Durel asked again, "Where did that come from?"

Bit noticed it for the first time too, "That wasn't on him before, I think that was where he was shot."

"Shot?!" Alarm sounded in Mister Durel's voice as he lifted Gohan from the floor.

Bit nodded hurriedly, "Yeah, by the ice beam."

Inside the bathroom, the tub was filling just as specified. Mister Durel lowered Gohan into the water, the temperature of which instantly dropped, "Keep the water running, let the cold water drain and slowly turn up the hot tap."

"Of course," Carol kept her hand on the knob and waited.

"Bit, come here and keep his nose and mouth above the water," Bit did as he was told and took over by Gohan's side.

Now that they'd done what they could, Mister Durel stepped back and tried to appraise the situation, "I need you to tell me just what the hell happened?"

Still emotional from everything that had happened that morning, Bit turned to glare at his father from over his shoulder, "Don't play dumb with me anymore dad! I know exactly what you've been doing!"

Anger rose in Mister Durel for being spoken to in such a manner, "Why you, don't you…"

Bit interrupted his father, "No, this is because of you and your partnership Icival!" Mister Durel halted his advance; it was a jolt to him to hear that his son had learned of such matters, "I know all about it now, that you sell our factory's products to aliens and do whatever you have to so that others don't find out!"

Mister Durel sighed and turned away from his son for a moment to collect his thoughts, "I was waiting until you were older to tell you about our arraignment; it's not something that was going to be kept from you forever. But what does that have to do with this boy's condition?"

Still aggravated with father, Bit snapped back at him, "What do you think?!"

"Bit…" Carol whispered sympathetically to calm him.

Taking a deep breath, Bit explained, "We found the room in the basement that led to the lookout over the factory. At the end of the hallway was a ring that opens a door to another world. We stepped through and saw what's on the other side, and it wasn't pretty. Icival found us when we came back and shot Gohan to keep what we saw a secret!"

"He wouldn't do that!" Mister Durel cut in immediately, "Icival is a business man, not a monster."

Bit's mouth hung open in astonishment, "Do you even know what he's doing? Using our products to make weapons to enslave an entire population of aliens in his world and using them for fuel to generate power which gets pumped through our superconductors!"

"That's not even possible!" Mister Durel's face turned red and his clenched fist shook.

"Like hell it is, we saw it!" Bit retorted immediately.

"I said don't talk back to me!" Mister Durel's hand swung forward about to strike Bit's face. The hand came close but stopped just before he made contact. Bit had closed his eyes to brace for the hit that never came. He slowly looked up and noticed his father's hand still close, and still shaking. His father was breathing heavily, obviously lost in his own emotions. The man swallowed hard and stepped back. He looked from his son to Gohan again, his eyes focused on the spot fading from Gohan's torso.

Without another word Mister Durel turned and left the bathroom.

"Are you alright Bit?" Carol asked after a moment.

"Yeah…" Bit sighed and continued to hold Gohan's head up as he was told.

Carol had been steadily turning up the hot water. The color was returning to Gohan's face. A few minutes of calm passed when abruptly Gohan's eyes shot open and he sat up in a splash of water, "W-w-w-where…?"

"It's OK Gohan, we're safe," Bit ensured him, "We're inside my house, we were just kind of… thawing you out…"

Gohan nodded, his teeth chattered throughout the head motion.

"Are you okay?" Carol continued turning up the hot water even though Gohan was awake.

"Y-y-yeah, just c-cold. K-keep turning that up-p p-please," Carol complied without complaint.

"I told my dad about what we saw, but I don't know if he believes us or not," Bit's voice was sullen.

"Don't worry, things will be fine," Gohan spoke encouragingly, "I just need to warm up a bit more…"

Within a few minutes the tub was steaming, and the bathroom windows were fogged over, "That's so much better," Gohan sighed.

Bit was glad to see Gohan alright again, "So what do we do now?"

"Now…" Gohan climbed out of the tub and grabbed a towel as Carol shut off the water. Bit looked away slightly embarrassed as Gohan dried off and pulled his pants on, "Now I need you guys to stay in a safe place for a little while." Gohan threw the door open as he pulled his shirt down over his head.

"You need _us_ to stay in a safe place, where are _you_ going?!" Bit caught on to Gohan's insinuation very quickly.

Gohan turned and smiled, "Thanks for everything, but there are some things I need to do now on my own."

"You can't, we're in this together!" Bit shouted vehemently.

"You almost died, you shouldn't go wondering off alone or do reckless things," Carol protested.

"You guys are awesome friends!" Gohan grinned from ear to ear, "But this is what I do, I make sure bullies don't get their way." With two fingers to his forehead Gohan disappeared into streaks of light.

Bit blinked in disbelief, "Gohan…" Carol grabbed hold of his hand and the wait began.

* * *

End Chapter

You know what this means right? Next week is the fight!

I really liked connecting a lot of little details in this chapter, it felt really good. I hope you guys enjoyed it too!

The plan is to have two updates next week. I'm really hoping I can pull it off since I haven't been quite on time these last two weeks with updates. It'll be tough, but I'm on winter break now, so hopefully that means I'll have some time to finish this up.

Wish me luck, and we'll see you next time!


	5. A Future With or Without You

Bah, humbug…

Hi everyone, first off my apologies that this is out much later than I wanted. I had intended for this chapter to be published Christmas Day. I was visiting my dad for winter break and long story short he got some new Internet provider that sucks… More on that in my blog.

I made it back home and then the year just got off to a terrible start. A lot of drama. I don't want to bore you guys with all that crap so suffice to say that I apologize that this didn't make it out on when I intended, but I hope you all still enjoy it. It's good and long and we have plenty of action and drama ahead!

* * *

Chapter 5: A Future With or Without You

* * *

A chime echoed throughout the factory below North City before the intercom system announced, "Attention all employees… This is Woodrow Durel…" There was a long pause before he continued, "Due to unforeseeable circumstances… the factory is closing for the day. Everyone is to leave the premises immediately. That is all."

The employees all looked from one to another in shock. With a hop to their step some immediately left their station to return home to spend the remainder of the day with their family. Some grumbled as they tossed their tools into their boxes wondering why they bothered coming in at all on Winter's Day. Others pondered the unusual happening and couldn't help but feel something ominous looming just over the horizon.

* * *

Icival stood atop a tall bell tower looking over the city. His eyes narrowed as he watched the people coming up from the factory, leaving early for the day. Behind him, a slight displacement of color in the air sifted into existence almost silently.

Without turning around Icivial crossed his arms, "So you survived."

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Gohan grinned as he stood straight and watched Icival carefully with a confident grin.

"Interesting," Icival thought to himself, "Exceptionally powerful warriors have all fallen taking light of our absolute zero technology, and yet such a short time later you are here and facing me again. Does a human child like yourself really have an affiliation with the Sovereign Guardianship?"

"Team Serius Prime," Gohan stated proudly.

Icival turned around and looked Gohan up and down, "No halo? Curiouser and curiouser… A living body should have had an even harder time surviving the freeze than a dead one."

"I'm special that way," Something odd was pinging in Gohan's senses by this point and he began to lower his stance.

"Well then, this should be somewhat entertaining!" Icival snapped his fingers as three figures flew past the roof from below with similar ice rays pointing at Gohan and firing instantly.

Shields of energy formed in Gohan's hands which he used to deflect the blasts, "That won't get me a second time!"

The three aliens landed on the roof and with Icival surrounded the boy. The new aliens were the same three Gohan had seen on the other side of the rift. They wore light blue armor that matched Icival's own color pallet. Laughter echoed as they leered at Gohan feeling they had him sufficiently outnumbered.

Gohan scratched his head as he looked from one alien to another, "No way… Piccolo was right, these guys always have funky gimmicks…" Gohan turned and pointed to the one behind him with smooth grey skin and long bright blue hair, "The… ummm… pretty one?"

"Why thank you young chap," the alien brushed his bangs from his face as Gohan shivered.

Quickly looking to his left Gohan saw a short orange alien with huge black insect kaleidoscope like eyes, "The weird one with the freaky powers?"

It perked up excitedly, "I shape shift into weapons and tentacles to pulverize people!"

"Great," Finally Gohan looked to his right at a behemoth alien with thick green fur and mammoth like tusks, "And you would be the big tough dumb one?"

The creature's eyes widened angrily and in a slow heavy voice said, "Hey! ...You take that ba…"

Gohan appeared in front of the giant alien, "No," he dropped to the ground quickly before pushing off with his hands and kicking the alien under the chin sending him flying high into the sky.

Recovering from the kick, the behemoth fighter opened his eyes in time for Gohan's fist to collide with his jaw. His two friends flew up quickly to his aid as Gohan clipped him behind the neck and he fell.

"Rado!" The little one yelled in shock.

"Don't let him catch you off guard Krypto!" The tall one tried to remain composed.

"Right Argo, I'm ready when you are!" The little one buzzed and a strange ripple passed through his body.

"Resonance time!" Argo commanded as Krypto's body contorted into a scythe which Argo wielded over his head.

"That's actually kind of cool," Gohan complimented as Argo took a swing close enough to cut a few strands of Gohan's hair. Carrying the swing through, Argo came at Gohan again only this time Krypto had taken the shape of a long sword.

The attacks continued, and with each swipe Krypto was a different weapon striking in a different manner.

Gohan dodged back again and grinned, "You guys aren't half bad, makes me wish I had my sword with me today."

A loud roar approached from behind as Rado burst through the clouds, his thick green fur waving as he held his hand forward and his massive claws extended in Gohan's direction.

"Those'll work!" Gohan slid out of the way of Rado's attack and took hold of the beast's leg. With enough force to nearly rip the leg from Rado's body, Gohan swung the behemoth around with the claw arm extended toward Argo and Krypto. Argo blocked the swing with Krypto's blade form but was obviously discouraged by the site of a small boy using his larger companion as a flailing weapon.

Argo began defending himself with Krypto as Gohan continued to slam Rado against them again and again. With every hit he was being pushed back and realization began to set in, "He's strong…"

Argo attempted to close the gap between them and strike at Gohan, but with Rado's claws extended and the sheer mass of his body in the way it was proving impossible. Every time Argo moved in to strike, Rado's screaming form was all he could hit; even with Krypto morphing into his most long-range forms.

"We've no choice, Krypto, maximum!" Argo held Krypto up his sword form and their ki's flared brightly as they began to merge their energy into a single attack. Krypto's sword form grew immensely in size, taking up a considerable portion of the sky and gave off a light that shown through the clouds, "Nothing can stand up to our SOUL CLEAVER!" Gohan stood his ground and watched as the attack came crashing down over him, never with the intention of striking him directly but to reach him through Rado instead.

"NOO! AHHHH!" Rado screamed as his body was disintegrated by the energy behind the attack. The sky exploded into blinding energy that shifted the clouds away from the epicenter of the strike.

After a moment the light faded and atmosphere began flooding back into the emptiness caused by the attack. Argo looked around for any signs of his opponent. There was nothing but the wafting sensation of air.

Krypto returned to his standard form and the two began to laugh, "See?! Even the Sovereign Guards are no match for us!"

An echoing voice boomed from all around them, "Why is it that bad guys never have a problem killing their own friends? I guess that's what makes you bad guys though huh?"

"Where is he?!" Krypto yelled.

"I don't know," Argo looked all around in an equal panic, "I can't sense him anywhere!"

Gohan's voice continued to echo, "This is your last chance to leave this realm. Go home…" Gohan's body regained visibility directly behind the two, "and live your lives in peace."

Argo turned around grabbing Krypto who immediately transformed into a great axe and swung at Gohan.

With his hand out, Gohan easily caught the hilt of Krypto's form before the blade was even close to him. Argo clenched his teeth, "Krypto, bind him now!"

The axe shape shifted again into a ball of cable like tentacles, which wrapped around Gohan's arm, moved behind his back and ensnared his other limbs before stretching Gohan out and holding him in a taut position.

Krypto's face formed over Gohan's shoulder, "Don't go thinking you're so great yet, we have plenty of other attacks that will destroy you all the same!"

Argo powered up and flew into Gohan with his fist leading the way and aimed directly for Gohan's face, "If you're so worried about Rado, then say hello to him in the next world!" The strike was heard for miles and caused the ground below to shake.

Both Argo and Krypto clenched their teeth and smirked knowing Argo had landed a direct hit at full power. Looking down at his hand, Argo finally noticed that Gohan was still staring at him around the fist in his cheek looking exceptionally uninterested.

"What… the…" Argo removed his hand and noticed he hadn't even left a mark on the boy. Panic began to spread as Argo realized he was up against far more than he bargained for.

A grin was all the warning the aliens received as a barrier of energy formed around them. Argo turned and attacked the strange prison out of reflex however his blows were deflected off its surface as if he were a weakling punching at a cement pillar.

Noticing his companion's failed attempts at breaking through the barrier, Krypto channeled his energy out through his tendrils to shock Gohan into submission, "Let us out now if you know what's good for you!" but even that seemed to have little effect.

A strange light was emitted from Gohan's body. Krypto hadn't even the chance to let go of Gohan as the spherical shield was filled with an amazing light and the sound of an immense explosion reverberated through the city far below. The sphere remained alit as a micro sun for a few seconds before immediately fading back into Gohan's body.

Gohan remained floating alone in the shield almost anticlimactically. He allowed the shield energy fade away and ashes blew off from within it. His gaze fell to Icival next who remained with a stoic expression though it was obviously he glaring daggers at him.

* * *

Bit thought he had heard some noise coming from the basement. He followed the sound downstairs and through the destroyed bookshelf door and found his father sitting in a Victorian chair; a music box set on the table beside him played a tune so very softly.

Knowing his son had just entered the room, Mister Durel stood, "Did I ever tell you you're a lot like her?"

"Not really…" Bit replied with his eyes downcast.

Mister Durel began to walk around the room, his finger slid across the rims of his wife's old books and possessions, "You have her hair… and eyes…" He picked up a photo of the three of them together looking happy and stared at it for a moment, "Not only that, but it's amazing how many other little personality quirks you two share. You have the same 'live free, do anything' attitude. You're both exceptionally stubborn when it comes to doing what I say."

Bit felt confused seeing this side of his father, "Dad, why are you…"

Cutting off his son was nothing new to him, but Woodrow put his hand up and gently shook his head, "I haven't been a good father to you Phillip. I don't think I ever was." The whole room shook slightly as a strange clash sound echoed through the air, "I always put my work and my career ahead of my family."

A few more strikes somewhere high above caused the room to shake again, "Is that…"

"Your friend is incredibly strong to have survived that freeze," more rumbles caused books and items to shift on their shelves, "And I really am thankful that he was there because if he wasn't then… I would have surely lost you… too…"

"Dad, why are you…?" Bit was sure he'd never seen his dad like this, at least not in many long years. It was enough to make him not worry about the vibrations coming through the ceiling for the moment.

Mister Durel put his hands on Bit's shoulders and looked into his son's face intently, "I… I'm… You know this is hard for someone like me to say… but… I'm so sorry… so, so sorry, for everything. I've only now realized that life has been hard on both of us… and it's my fault it's that way."

"…I don't understand," Bit was feeling emotional himself watching his father speak, though he wasn't sure why.

Woodrow shook his head, "And there's no reason you should, just…" the man shook his head to clear his thoughts, "I'm going to stop this for good, so don't worry. I want you to take Carol and try and find someplace safe. Stay away from the factory and hide. It will all be over soon."

Bit continued to stare with his mouth hanging open without moving or saying anything.

In his frustrated manner, Mister Durel pushed his son away, "I said get moving! Now!"

Bit slowly backed up and then ran from the room.

"Good boy…" Mister Durel turned and entered the factory.

* * *

Gohan braced himself as Icival hurdled toward him like a missile. Icival's smooth cranium impacted Gohan in the stomach and swept him along in the force for nearly a mile. Once Gohan pushed himself off the attack Icival continued throwing punches, hooking the small guardian from the left and right.

With a flip in the air, Icival's foot began to glow before he kicked Gohan squarely in the stomach and sent him flying off another mile, "What's this? You seem surprised to be up against someone so much stronger than his henchmen, I would have thought you would have saved more of your energy for the main EVENT!" Icival punctuated the last word by firing a huge energy beam, which caught Gohan before he recovered and swept him along the glowing trail.

The beam dissipated and Icival caught Gohan by the back of his collar, "How pathetic, this isn't even any fun!"

Gohan opened an eye and glared at Icival silently.

"Just a weak earth child after all!" Icival tossed Gohan and escalated his motion with a shockwave of his ki.

Gohan tumbled toward a mountain at speeds enough to make a cratering impact. With but a foot before contact, Gohan came to a sudden and immediate stop. He stood upright and stared plainly at Icival.

Icival halted his pursuit as well finding himself skeptical as to what was happening. Gohan made no gesture, spoke no words, yet he didn't appear to be terribly wounded or even winded yet for that matter, "What is this? Don't even think to try and capture me in one of your tricks, I can guarantee you my power will blow through whatever trap you have in store!"

Gohan touched down at the mountain peak, "No tricks," A long golden bolt of static streamed across the mountain's rocky surface, "I just needed a little more space to use more of my power." Immediately more sparks of energy began filling the mountain range.

Icival grit his teeth and looked around. He realized now that they were a good distance away from North City, "Sentimental dope, fine, spare the lives of low class fools, it won't sway the outcome of this fight! Your power still can't possibly compare to mine!"

"You have no idea…" Gohan's hair began to spike wildly as it blinked between black and gold, "what you've gotten yourself into…"

The world around Icival darkened for a moment and became deathly silent. In the next moment a golden light erupted from the mountain like a volcano. All other sound was overcome by a great shout and the rumble of the earth below.

Icival lowered his arms, which he had reflexively shielded his face with, "A transformation?!"

Gohan stood atop the peak still staring through Icival. Icival blinked and upon opening his eyes saw only Gohan's fist as it impacted his face. The ripple through the air cracked like thunder as Icival was thrown up into the sky by the force of the blow.

"AHHH!" Icival gripped his bleeding nose and winced as he regained control of his momentum. Gohan appeared in front of him again and in an angry rush Icival began throwing punches. His right fist, then left, then his left foot kicked out followed by another left punch. As an oncoming strike was millimeters from making contact, Gohan would effortlessly weave his body out of the way, leaving Icival shadow boxing with the air.

"I've got you on the run, you can't dodge forever!" Icival's tone of voice was somewhere between exasperation and madness.

Another right punch was thrown which Gohan caught in his own right hand with both his arms crossed in front of him. Icival looked down at his captured hand in time for Gohan to swing out the back of his left fist across his face. A tooth had to have flown out of his mouth as Icival was jerked back in the other direction and hurled at the mountainside. Unable to stop himself, Icival made a cratering impact.

Icival coughed out blood and another tooth as he pushed himself to his feet and wiped the dust from his face. A loud pop to the side indicated Gohan as near again, "Your power is draining, you can't keep fighting me like this."

"Cocky brat!" Icival blood spat again.

"If you give up now it's not too late, you can go before the Sovereign Kai and take a penance for your actions. There's no need to make this worse than it already is," Gohan offered.

"Penance?! You…" Icival stopped and began taking in deep breaths. He closed his eyes and calmed himself, "You're right, I suppose it isn't too late…" Gohan watched Icival intently as he appeared to power down.

Gohan scratched his head, it wasn't often someone actually gave up.

Fully collected, Icival floated toward Gohan with his hands behind his back, "As it isn't too late yet, you should probably hurry up and get to saving them."

Gohan's gaze hardened again, "What are you talking about?"

Icival grinned, "Do you know the difference between a good Sovereign Guard and a great one?"

Gohan grunted, "What are you getting on about…?"

"A great Sovereign Guard will do whatever is necessary to accomplish his mission, they're willing to make any sacrifice necessary," Icival floated to Gohan's side, "Now, do you know why you'll never be a great Sovereign Guard?"

No words came from Gohan's mouth as he tried to analyze what Icival was up to.

"It's because you'll always save them first," Icival tilted his head giving Gohan a clear view of North City as several explosions tore through the city streets.

Gohan's eyes widened in horror; he realized the explosion came from the factory that stretched under most of the city. He cursed under his breath, he had been ready to stop Icival from taking any physical action, but somehow Icival had activated a backup plan he must have placed long ago.

"Well?" Icival chuckled, "Get going then. Most humans don't take falling into a deep chasm too well."

Angered eyes turned away from the city and bored into Icival spirit. The boy spoke no words but Icival was obviously shaken by the gesture, "Well? What'll it be _hero_? Finish me, or save the _poor_ town's folk?"

Gohan vanished from Icival's sight, "Thought so."

A popping sound ripped through the air as Gohan appeared over North City. The streets were torn open and buildings were starting to fall into the open factory pits. People were running and screaming, trying to get away from the collapsing structures. Gohan put two fingers to his head feeling out all the living energies around him and began rapidly teleporting to each one.

In less than a fraction of a second Gohan teleported to an individual, ghosted a touch over a shoulder or an arm, moved them instantly to a safe place, and then did the same for someone else. Far too quick for those he saved to even comprehend what was happening.

Keeping the momentum going, Gohan burst through the most stricken parts of town first and began working his way out, saving everyone caught in the path of destruction.

* * *

Icival walked through the observation hallways in the factory. Having been reinforced with stronger material they held through the explosions without a problem. He held a communicator to his ear, "The situation has become more complicated, I need it sent through immediately… Just charge it with energy from the dweller reserves and send it through… Good!" He put the communicator away and descended the stairs to the rift generator.

As he entered the rift flared open and he began making adjustments. The color of the vortex deepened and a large metallic crate came through.

"My apologies guardian… but with this you stand no chance against me," Icival laughed morbidly to himself.

"ICIVAL!" the alien was torn from his glee by the voice of an approaching old man.

The alien stood up straight and smiled as the man approached, "Ah, Mister Durel, it appears as though production in your factory is being delayed, this is most unfortunate."

Ignoring Icival's words, Mister Durel continued to approach the alien, "You need to tell me what you know about freezing weapons right now!"

Feigning innocence, Icival cocked his head to the side and asked, "Whatever might you be implying?"

"DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME!" Mister Durel shouted angrily, "I saw the boy who was hit by it… it looked…" Mister Durel had to stop for a moment to swallow down his emotions, "It left a mark. The exact mark that was on Radia's torso when she was found… So answer me Icival! Did you kill my wife?!"

The room was silent as the two occupants stared at each other almost emotionlessly for a long moment. Icival finally cracked a smile and chuckled, "I remember your wife now, it has been a few years, my apologies." The alien began pacing around Woodrow, "Do you want to know something about her? You see she never did approve of our business cooperation. She had a variety of reasons all written out on an assortment letters, which it seemed she intended to give to you eventually. Our endeavor had proven to be incredibly lucrative for the both of us, do you really think it would have been better if we allowed her to interfere?"

Mistural Durel turned several shades of red before lashing out at Icival with his fist, "YOU BASTARD!"

Icival didn't even try to dodge. Woodrow's fist hit with all of his force backing it, but it wasn't enough to cause any noticeable flinch in Icival at all.

"Really now?" Icival couldn't contain his laughter, "Do you really think that you're at all capable of harming me with your pathetic strength? Come now, who do you take me for?"

Woodrow remained with his fist pressed against the alien, "You're right I suppose… I may not be very strong…" Woodrow pulled his fist back revealing a device he left glued to Icival's torso, "but you have no idea how powerful I am!"

Slightly bewildered, Icival stared at the device, "And what is that supposed to be?"

"An electro magnet," Woodrow stated calmly while taking a step back.

With another smirk Icival added, "And what do you think a magnet could possibly do to me?"

"Probably nothing," Woodrow took another step back, "but you may be interested in the fact that the super conductor on your rift machine is about to overload."

Icival turned to the rift generator as it gave off a huge spark. Woodrow jumped out of the way as the energy within the conduit burst free and lashed out like a tesla coil, and was attracted to the magnet on Icival's chest. A deafening crack of thunder like an explosion rang out through the room as a flash of light indicated contact from the energy followed by a wave of it as the circuit completed.

The light faded and Mister Durel slowly regained his senses. His ears were ringing and there were spots in his eyes, but he looked in the direction Icival had been standing and saw a hole in the wall nearby with a glowing outline.

The older man pushed himself off the floor to a prone position on one knee. He watched the wall for a moment as the glowing edge cooled. A ceiling tile fell and clattered to the floor.

Woodrow closed his eyes and sighed in relief. The room was beginning to glow brighter as the rift generator was still functioning, and the vortex within it was beginning to spin violently. Woodrow finally climbed to his feet and took a step closer to it when a moan caused his gaze to snap back towards the wall.

From behind the hole, a hand grabbed onto the remaining wall and Icival pulled himself from the rubble. Most of Icival's clothes were terribly charred, and a large burn wound was plainly visible on his chest.

Icival looked to the rift as its energy began to expand beyond the ring, "You fool! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

The air pressure in the room increased as the rift energy reached the ceiling and continued to build. The excess force caused cracks to spread in the ceiling as the energy pushed upon it.

"That hyper portal is completely unstable now thanks to you! At this rate it will continue to grow and probably swallow your entire planet," Icival looked down to the man and smirked, "Not that I care about that anymore."

Icival turned to the crate, which had come through the rift before the overload. He activated a device on the top of it and immediately the hunk of metal began to glow and then reshape. It formed a sleek metallic suit of armor which adjusted to Icival's size and sealed around him.

Icival's face was still exposed through the suit as he turned to Woodrow, "Mister Durel, I regret to inform you that our business relationship is officially… terminated."

Energy collected in Icival's outstretched hand. It was only for a moment, as Icival knew not much energy was needed for this. The gathering energy bathed the room in light brighter than that of the escaping rift.

Without any action to take, Woodrow put his head down and closed his eyes, "Radia…" he whispered to himself ready for what was to come next. As his vision was blinded once again he felt impact, but not how he expected.

A force hit Woodrow from behind as the blast was released from Icival's hand. Woodrow turned as he was falling and saw a small silhouetted form had pushed him out of the way and was now caught in the blast itself.

Woodrow's mouth hung open in shock as the beam carried the form away from him into the wall. The man hit the ground as the light faded and the charred body slumped against the wall. Unable to find words, Woodrow crawled toward the limp form and reached out a shaking hand.

Outside of the factory, Gohan set down the last of the citizens caught in the wreckage when his senses caused him to realize something was off. A look of shock crossed his face as he stood by the people he'd saved, unable to move.

Carol put a hand to her mouth as she fell to her knees at the entrance to the rift lab.

Mister Durel pulled the charred form against him, "PHILLIP!" He finally cried out, "Please Kami no… Not Bit… Please not Bit too!" The tears flowed freely from the man's eyes as he clutched his son's body tight.

All around Gohan people were asking questions, but he couldn't acknowledge that any of them even existed at that moment. The only sound echoing through his head was his own breathing and heartbeat.

A scream tore through the clearing as Gohan burst into the air. High above everyone Gohan's hair spiked wildly and changed from black to an outrageous platinum as a tail grew from his spine. His ki erupted and in such proximity to the city caused every piece of glass and pottery for miles around to shatter into dusty shards. Buildings precariously balanced on their damaged foundations collapsed completely. People near buildings ducked for cover as every window around blew out from their frames.

Blinded by tears Gohan dove into the ground and tunneled a direct path to the underground bunker as if the stone and concrete between he and his destination were mere particles of air.

Icival had his hand pointed toward Woodrow again when his suit's sensors detected something a nanosecond before the wall to his side collapsed and he was tackled by a wave of pure rage.

Gohan's dive tore into icival and dragged the armor-clad alien into the unstable rift. Icival felt himself tumbling for what seemed like forever before sliding to a rough halt.

The extra dimensional tyrant pushed himself to his feet and looked around. Gohan was standing in front of him but he could see nothing else; they were surrounded by bleak emptiness, "What have you done?! The rift was unstable, it could have sent us anywhere!"

"No," Gohan shook his head, "It brought us exactly where you deserve to be," Gohan grit his teeth as the shroud lifted revealing the energy like waves of all the parallel dimensions flowing through infinity.

"So, this is the void, fine," Icival dropped into a battle stance, "but I'm ready for you this time you puny guardian! This battle armor has more than tripled my power! I'll crush you, have at…"

Before he could finish talking, Gohan's fist had engraved itself into his shoulder pad, easily twisting through the foreign metal. Without relenting, Gohan struck again, each contact rang out like a bell against Icival's armor.

Icival held his hand out and fired a much larger beam than he had used before against Gohan, but the boy canceled it out effortlessly.

Gohan shook his head and gripped his fists tight, "This is something that hasn't happened in a while… I'm angry… really angry… I'm not sure what I'm going to do to you now."

A startled look crossed Icival's face as he took a step back, "You… you're not scaring me! I know your type, you'd never…" The flow of energy around them began to change colors. The form of the universes began to glow brighter as if to match Gohan's aura as it grew in power.

Power gathered in Gohan's hand, "For what you've done," not enough power to destroy Icival, just enough for him to feel it, "I'm going to take my time and enjoy this..."

* * *

The ceiling to the bunker finally collapsed from all the stresses taken on by recent events. Instead of falling, all of the pieces were pulled into the expanding rift. At the surface the ground over the factory tore open and a tower of energy erupted from within, bolts of static struck out at grounded objects as it formed a massive swirling vortex. Everything in the city was now being blown toward it like a black hole.

Woodrow Durel hadn't moved. He remained in the corner of the bunker silently holding his son in his arms. Carol tried to approach them while holding on to the wall for support against the blowing force of the vortex. Loose debris from the factory was blown in from behind her and hit the back of her knees causing her to fall and slide toward the rift.

A shrill scream finally pulled Mister Durel from his reverie as he noticed Carol only feet away from the threshold of the rift and being pulled closer. Acting quickly, Woodrow jumped for Carol's hand and grabbed onto it. He pulled her back to the side of the lab where there were still heavy objects to brace against.

"What's happening?" Carol cried.

"The rift is out of control, it's devouring the entire city," Mister Durel looked around the room, noticing the vortex had already swallowed its own control panel and was still growing. He racked his brain for ideas on what might stop it. Though the energy was growing well beyond the size of the original portal, the gate was still in tact and glowing brightly on the ground, "The ring, that's what holds the connection through the rift open!"

"What can we do?" Carol tried to yell over the sound the electricity and air.

A fire kit was still hanging on the wall. Woodrow broke it open and removed an axe, "Hold on tight over here, I have to fix this," he shouted as he began to crawl his way back to the ring.

Woodrow stood and attempted to secure his footing beside the ring. He could feel the force of the pull threatening to pluck him right from the ground and take him through the rift. He leaned back with the axe and began to swing. The clang as the axe struck the ring echoed through the room. There was no effect so Woodrow swung again, and again, "Crack damn you! CRACK!"

The axe head eventually shattered and was pulled into the vortex, but Woodrow continued to swing with all his might. The vortex had grown to the size of a skyscraper and the force was intensifying. Cars were pulled toward it and more buildings began collapsing from the pressure.

"I said… CRAAAACK!" Woodrow hit the ring with everything he had left and left an indentation in the metallic surface. Woodrow watched the dent disdainfully for a moment when the force of the rift caused the ring to bend and contort at the indentation and finally it formed a crack. The power of the vortex pulled the ring into itself. Immediately the color of the rift changed and the energy halted its spinning motion. The vortex energy collapsed and everything in mid pull began to settle back to the ground.

Woodrow dropped what was left of the axe and returned to Bit's side. Carol had her hand on Bit's shoulder. As Woodrow kneeled beside them, Carol wrapped her arms around the man for comfort and they both continued to cry.

* * *

Another deafening clang echoed across the void as Gohan struck Icival again. A piece of armor guarding Icival's face shattered from its position. Icival wiped the blood from his lip before he kicked off and lunged at Gohan again.

Icival's knee bounced off of Gohan's face without leaving a mark. After rolling off, Icival turned and launched a volley of punches and kicks, all of which hit, none of which did anything.

Gohan caught the last punch and clamped his fist onto the gauntlet hard enough to crush through the armor with his fingers as if it were an empty can. Icival screamed as his fingers were broken under the collapsing metal. Not letting go of the gauntlet, Gohan kicked Icival away, tearing the arm of the suit off as the alien was tossed aside.

The arm that was ripped free from the armor was mangled and limp at Icival's side. The tyrant fell to his knees and clutched his arm. Gohan appeared over the butcher, daring him to try something else.

Icival put his good arm up in the air, "Alright, I give up, we can stop now, take me to your kai person… thing… so I can get my penance."

Gohan bared his teeth, his fist still shook with anger and hatred ready to strike out against this beast, "Sad, but that's not an option for you anymore. This time it stops with me."

Icival glared at Gohan and lowered his hand before he started chuckling to himself, "Really? And what are you going to do? Are you actually going to kill me? Ha!"

"That would be far too kind for someone like you…" Gohan pointed a finger at the armor and blasted it away in several key spots.

Icival had braced for the attack but noticed he was only singed where the beams tore by him, "What did you…?" Checking his armor, Icival realized the circuitry for moving and communication was completely destroyed. He had no way to call for help, and no one to know where he was.

"If we're done… then I'm leaving…" Gohan turned and began walking away.

"What? You're just going to go?" Icival pulled the destroyed armor from his body, "What are you intending to have done about me?"

Gohan's eyes narrowed as he looked back over his shoulder, "Absolutely nothing, so good luck proving your own existence, even to yourself, without anything around to validate you. Maybe in a few thousand years, long after you've completely lost your mind, someone else will come by and kill you out of pity. Until then enjoy the cold and the dark and the silence.

The view of the lucid dimensions was already darkening as the shroud enveloped them. Even Gohan who stood only a few feet in front of him seemed to be fading out of existence, "Wait, you can't just leave me here!" Everything around became completely black, "No! Wait! Come back! PLEEEAAASE!" By the end of his screams Icival's own body was completely hidden from him by the darkness.

* * *

The town had been quiet. No more explosions, no more freakishly powerful gusts of wind, no more towering light. People were slowly making their way back into town, avoiding the open pits where the factory roof had collapsed.

No one spoke as they trekked through the snow, their city looked destroyed – few buildings were standing, rubble and debris littered the landscape, it appeared as though a great war had been fought in this normally quiet town.

Many people were gathering in the town square where the main entrance to the factory had been. The people close by were startled when the door to the factory opened and Mister Durel walked out.

Some people shied away from the man, others became angry assuming he must have had something to do with the destruction, everyone remained silent however as they noticed the limp form draped in the man's arms. Carol clung to the man's arm as he led them safely out into the clearing.

Those who recognized Bit covered their mouths or looked away as Mister Durel set the body down. Mister Durel kneeled beside his son, tears still staining his face. Carol kneeled beside him, equally distraught.

Woodrow actually hugged Carol, "I'm sorry… I was such a terrible person. I never wanted to give you and Phillip a chance…"

Carol remained silent, clutching Bit's hand.

"I'M SORRY!" Mister Durel screamed to the sky through his sobs. The anger in the crowd dwindled as they watched the grieving father try and cope. "I've spent years, so many years, being a terrible foolish old man." His body shook with emotion as he stroked Bit's face, "How did I not see the value in the family I had left?" He held Carol tighter, "And in the lives of everyone around me as well?"

The door to the factory opened again as the raven-haired boy approached the group. Woodrow's eyes widened as he recognized the boy kneeling beside them.

Gohan put down his backpack and smiled sadly before taking hold of Woodrow's and Carol's hands, "I have something for you." Reaching into his backpack, Gohan set all seven of the Dragon Balls on the ground beside Bit's body, "If you really believe, then sometimes Winter's Day miracles do happen."

Everyone was confused, but no one interrupted whatever the boy was doing. Once all seven balls were in a pattern together on the ground they began to give off a pulsating glow. The sky immediately darkened as clouds moved in from every direction. Everyone stared in curiosity now as Gohan held hands with Woodrow and Carol again, "You need to wish. Wish with all of your heart and don't be afraid of what happens next."

Woodrow held Gohan's hand tight. The boy had done impossible things so far, he found himself compelled to believe, "I wish… I wish I had my son back with me, please, I need to tell him how much I do love him."

With a tight grip on Gohan, Carol added, "Please, I wish for Bit to not be dead, but to be with me again."

The glowing from the balls flashed brilliantly as bolts of radical light struck from the sky. A deep roar and rumble echoed through the ruined city as energy shot up from the seven balls forming the shape of the dragon.

The people observing all stepped back in shock, but something kept their gaze affixed on what was happening. The boy said not to be afraid, and for some reason the people wanted to believe in that.

In a booming voice the dragon spoke, "You who have summoned me to this realm, so shall your wish be granted." The dragon's eyes gave off a deep red glow. The same red began to envelope Bit's body like fire as energy crossed from one plane of existence to another.

The transfer of energy reached a crescendo and then the light faded. The burns on Bit's body were healed; he looked like his old self. Everyone stared expectantly for a moment until his face twitched and slowly his eyes opened. The crowd erupted into cheers as Woodrow, Carol, and Gohan all hugged Bit tightly.

"My boy!" Woodrow cried in happiness and disbelief, "I love you son."

From the sky above the dragon stated, "Your wish has been granted, state your second wish."

Bit looked over and saw the balls Gohan had been collecting and a tail above them, which led up to the face of the enormous dragon. His eyes widened in amazement as he took in the sight.

Gohan turned to Bit and Carol. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself before telling them, "This is the Eternal Dragon Shenron, nearly any wish you could ask for can be granted just by asking him right now. He has the power to grant one more wish; so if you wanted, Carol, he could give you sight or just about anything else you could think of."

Refusing to let go of Bit's hand, Carol laughed, "That would be silly, I don't need sight. Not being able to see like you is part of me, but it isn't all that I am. I can see without seeing." Her other hand moved to Bit's face and felt his features, "I can see all that I need to, I can see that he cares like this, and also in the way he always comes to hear me sing."

Bit's eyes widened and he blushed a deep red, "You knew? How come you didn't say anything?"

Carol laughed knowing exactly how Bit was reacting to her words, "It's because I was singing for _you_."

Gohan grinned, "You guys are so awesome, but in that case… you have a big decision to make."

Finally looking up at the dragon, Carol began, "I know my wish. Eternal Dragon Shenron, I wish you to fill our town with joy this Winter's Day. Let there be warm homes filled with good food, loving family, festive lights, and blissful music."

"So it shall be done!" The dragon's entire body began to give off a golden radiance. The same glow came over the entire city. Buildings were lifted from their rubble, the parts of the city collapsed into the factory were raised back to their rightful place, items which had blown away were put back where they belonged, the tattered clothes people wore were mended and made new, even that which had been sooted and soiled for years was now clean, freshly prepared food appeared on every table, warming fires lit and smoke gently wafted from the chimneys, and finally strings of lights seemed to descend from the sky and wrapped every home and building.

"Your wishes have been granted, so I bid thee farewell!" The dragon faded from the sky as the dragon balls floated up toward the heavens. In a final burst of light and sound the balls dispersed across the planet once again, leaving in their wake a sparkling stardust like snow which floated through the air.

As everyone gazed around their beautiful town in awe as an orchestra began gently playing in the background. Carol smiled as she recognized the tune and sang with the music.

"Beautiful… amazingly beautiful…" Admiring the singing and still ecstatic from the little "miracle", Woodrow shouted to the group, "Please come join us for Winter's Day Dinner, everyone!"

A large group took Mister Durel up on his offer. The mansion was alit with laughter and commotion as people joined together at the banquet tables for dinner, something they all thought would never happen only the day prior.

Gohan watched from the window as Woodrow carved one of the turkeys and offered slices to everyone around. Bit saw Gohan from the corner of his eye and ran outside to his friend, "Hey, aren't you going to join us?"

A huge smile covered Gohan's face, "On a day like today, I think I should actually go home and have dinner with my family."

"Well…" Bit looked down quietly for a moment before he lunged forward and tackled Gohan in a hug, "Thank you so much Gohan!"

Gohan smiled but didn't move as his arms were pinned to his sides, "You don't have to thank me for anything."

"Yes I do!" Bit loosened up and tried to look Gohan in the eye, "This has been the most amazing day of my life. My dad is being awesome, Carol and I can be friends without worrying about anything anymore, and everything around us is better than it has been in years. And it's all thanks to you! I didn't think I could ever be this happy on Winter's Day… and… my mom's happy for us too!"

Gohan hugged him back, "I'm really happy for you, you have no idea! And you guys showed me a lot too. So I mean to say… what are friends for?"

Bit stifled some sniffs as he let go and took a step back, "In one day you've become like the best friend I've ever had, so you need to come back and play soon, ok?"

"Yeah!" Gohan grinned as he floated up into the air.

Bit returned to the doorway where Carol was standing and they both waved, "Good bye Gohan, Happy Winter's Day!"

"Happy Winter's Day!" Gohan shouted joyfully as he flew over the city.

* * *

End Chapter

That's the longest chapter I've written in a long while. I didn't want to break it up into multiple chapters because there was really no point in suspense to this. I mean was there ever any doubt that Gohan would defeat Icival? I hope it was all still exciting and fun to read through. I know it was exciting to write.

So there's still an epilogue left. We'll see you then!


	6. Good Tidings We Bring

I don't think there are enough apologies for delaying the last chapter out this long. Some of you who I've been talking to know this year started out with nothing but drama over here, most of it isn't worth repeating so I'll simply say sorry for the wait.

I'm going to be moving again, and I'm hopeful that I'll get that creative motivation back to build up momentum and keep it going. There are a lot of projects I'm hoping to tackle this year and I'm thankful to you guys for putting up with my bouts of erratic posting behavior.

I had about a page and a half to two pages of this chapter written for the longest time, and just couldn't get in the feel good mood I wanted the rest of the chapter to have. When it finally hit me I flushed it all out in one sitting. I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 6: Good Tidings We Bring

* * *

"Wait, you can't just leave me here!" Icival resorted to begging the young Sovereign Guard as Gohan allowed the eternal shroud to envelop them. "No! Wait! Come back! PLEEEAAASE!" But Gohan had made up his mind, for what Icival did to his friend he'd let the monster float for eternity in a state that might as well be death.

Though now, having fought in the void, Gohan knew there was no way his actions had gone unnoticed. A brilliant energy overtook him as he was pulled across the dimensional plane. The vortex dragged him along an iridescent path until light sprang forth and Gohan found himself deposited on the Sovereign Kai's world.

The world looked exactly as he had last seen it; tree covered mountains, clean flowing water, and the indigo sky. A creaking sound caused Gohan to slowly turn as the door to the Sovereign Mansion was opened before him.

"It's good to see you again, Gohan," The Kai smiled as he stepped down from the entrance.

"Likewise," Gohan bowed formally but said nothing more.

The Kai also watched Gohan carefully for a moment, judging his body language before asking him, "Is something the matter?"

Gohan straightened back out, "I guess I overstepped my boundaries a bit… I'm sorry."

With a wry smile the Kay looked on past Gohan, "Really, I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"Hmmm?" Gohan questioned before he turned around again.

Behind Gohan was a towering silhouetted giant, standing at least twenty feet tall, with claws for hands and large glowing red eyes, "YOU WENT ON AN ADVENTURE WITHOUT ME?!"

Gohan gulped nervously, "Hi Phips…"

The impish gremlin deflated back to his normal size and crossed his arms, "Of all the inconsiderate, asinine, and narcissistic actions on _your_ record, this one takes the cake!"

Gohan blinked a few times, "Am I really that bad?"

Phips shrugged, "Maybe? I'm not even sure what most of those words mean…"

"Oh," Gohan couldn't help but grin as Phips trotted around him.

The Kai shook his head, "In any case Gohan, there's no need to feel anxious, I have been watching the events unfold on your world since this morning, and I feel your actions were mostly appropriate given the circumstances. Good job."

"Thank you sir," Gohan bowed.

"Though next time…" The Kai chuckled, "Try and remember that you're on vacation and it's alright to call in an incident and let someone else handle it, there's no need to involve yourself in every minor scuffle, even if it does happen on your world."

"I'll try to keep that in mind," Gohan's voice was still downcast, a fact that had not been missed by his otherworldly friends.

"Gohan?" Gohan turned to Phips who was holding out the six star dragon ball, "I think you were looking for this?"

Emotions started running through Gohan as he kneeled down and embraced his friend, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, saving the day is what I do!" Phips gave a sharp-toothed smile as Gohan took the ball, "Now don't leave your new friend dangling in other world for too long you big softy."

With a nod Gohan stood, "Oh, Sovereign Kai, sir, I did have a question while I'm here."

The Kai tilted his head, "And what might that be?"

"It's in regards to my age and immortality…" A hand from the Kai signaled for Gohan to stop.

"Gohan, if there's one thing you've proven to me in the time I've known you it's that you have the power to forge your own destiny," The Sovereign Kai's gaze softened, "Your life is yours to make of it what you will, the decisions are yours to make, and the path is for you to discover. How things will progress with you is something even I cannot know for certain."

Somehow the answer seemed fitting to Gohan as he smiled, it was something he'd known somewhere all along after all, "Thank you sir, I suppose we'll see how things look next year."

"Indeed we will," The Kai smiled, "Then Phips, would you return Gohan to his home realm?"

"I can do that, maybe I can even take care of some errands while I'm out," Phips rolled up his sleeves as he used his rift shift technique to transport he and Gohan between dimensions.

"Perhaps sending Phips wasn't the wisest choice…" The Kai thought to himself as he returned to his manor.

The sun was setting as Gohan flew towards his own home. The last few days replayed through his head. He helped save the world from a threat that chased Vegeta's brother to earth, collected all seven dragon balls, made some new friends, and fought off an interdimensional smuggler who was destroying another world to sate his own desires. It was a good feeling being able to help like that.

An island came into view as Gohan flew across the ocean. There were tall buildings and some construction going on it seemed. He recognized a billboard on the front with Mister Satan's picture on it.

"The Super Gorgeous Wold-Saving Hotel huh?" Gohan felt a familiar signature nearby and floated toward one of the towers where light was shining out through a window.

Peeking in for a moment Gohan saw Videl and three of her friends sitting around a room where a fireplace was burning. They were eating some kind of pastry treat, and wrapped gifts were sitting on a nearby table underneath a glowing star hanging from the ceiling. They were all joking and laughing and singing.

"Everyone's happy, I'm glad." Gohan whispered to himself as he floated away from the window and continued his flight home.

Something caught Videl's eye as she stepped away from the conversation and walked over to the window. It was too dark to see anything, but for some reason she stared out into the darkness as a feeling of contentment washed over her.

Her friends eventually pulled her back into the pack of festivities.

* * *

Mt. Paozu came into view and Gohan could already smell the dinner his mother was cooking. "I'm home!" Gohan called as he landed.

"Gohan!" Goten immediately ran out to his brother, "You're back! Where'd you go? What'd you do? How come you didn't take me with you? Did you go on an adventure? Was it fun?"

Gohan put Goten in a headlock to calm him down and simply replied, "Yes."

"Boys, wash up, dinner's ready!" Chichi called.

"Coming!" they shouted, and despite how quick they were at washing up Goku still beat them to the table.

Chichi prepared an extra large meal for the evening, and everyone happily ate to their fill, "And once you're done eating we can get to the presents."

"Presents!" Goten yelled happily, and cleaned off his plate.

In the living room a large golden glowing star was leaning against a pedestal and several wrapped boxes were laid out behind it.

Goku pulled one of the gifts out, "This one is for Goten."

"Ohh!" Goten excitedly ripped the paper off to reveal a remote control helicopter, "That is so cool!"

"And this one's for Gohan," Goku handed Gohan the next small box.

Gohan was much more delicate when it came to removing the paper, trying to carefully pull the tape from the paper without tearing any of it.

"Gohan, the paper's not going to be reused, go ahead and tear it off!" Chichi encouraged.

With an energized grin, Gohan tore the paper from his gift and found a capsule inside. Clicking the capsule ejected a guitar and music book, "Whoa." Gohan's eyes widened as he looked over the instrument.

Chichi explained, "You've spent so much time studying concrete subjects that your father and I felt it was time you had some creative avenues to explore."

Gohan strummed a cord to hear the tune reverberate through the room, "Wow, thanks!"

"The next one's for both of you," Goku slid a medium box over which Goten and Gohan ripped open together to find their own video game system inside.

"Yes! Now we don't have to go to Trunks's house to play video games, this is awesome!" Goten yelled in delight.

"And these boxes was left by the door today Gohan, one's addressed to you… but I'm not sure who it's from," Goku handed Gohan a small package which had a label that read "To: The Son Family" but in the "From" portion there was a strangely drawn face with long ears and sharp teeth grinning widely.

"Oh dear…" Gohan whispered as he unwrapped the gift.

The box was opened and everyone stared confused at its contents, "It's… a rock?" Goku scratched his head in a befuddled manner.

Gohan found a note inside and read it aloud, "A remnant of Planet Vegeta-Sei, let me know if any of you feel weak or anything once it's open."

"Well it's a nice rock and has its own stand and everything… but why would it make anyone feel weak?" Goku asked confused.

"It's just… never mind," Gohan pushed it aside and cautiously pulled out the next box addressed to him. He actually held the box away from his face as he opened it as if afraid something might explode from the box. When nothing happened he looked inside and pulled out a can, "Acme… fart spray?" A tag dangled off the side of the can that Gohan caught and read, "Quit acting like an old fart."

Gohan shook his head as Chichi looked disgusted by the gift and took the liberty of taking it from Gohan's hands, "I think I know a good place for this…" and took it to the outside trash.

They were about to clean up when Gohan noticed another capsule inside the box from Phips. Curious Gohan reached for the capsule and clicked the button. The little capsule began vibrating violently for a moment as if it were stuck and unable to process whatever it was trying to expel. Gohan dropped it onto the floor and all of the sons watched as it rolled and shook and bounced for a few more seconds before it finally burst open in a huge cloud of smoke. Once the smoke settled a brand new display stand was left upright in the Son's living room, nearly seven feet tall, and suspended in it was Gohan's old toy.

Gohan ran his finger along the hilt of the Realis and pulled it out with one hand. A note was attached to it which simply read, "Follow no heart but your own, make your own choices, carve your own destiny."

A slightly emotional look crossed Gohan's face, "This is so going in my room."

"That's fine," Goku laughed, "I think it'll look good there."

"Let's go play outside, please! I want to try out the helicopter!" Goten begged.

"You boys should go play," Goku encouraged.

Gohan tilted his head to the side, "I'll help mom clean up, then I'll be outside."

Goten huffed a bit, "Do you mean it this time?"

Gohan gulped, "Of course!"

Goku followed Goten out the door and Gohan and Chichi began clearing out the wrapping paper and dinner plates.

They worked in companionable silence for a moment before Chichi finally spoke, "Gohan, I'm very proud of you, you know that right?"

It always made Gohan a little uncomfortable receiving praise, so he shifted on his feet a bit, "Yeah, of course, thanks."

Chichi could tell she opened up with a line that Gohan found a little embarrassing, but she needed to get something off her chest, "What you did for those people in North City was very selfless of you, you're such a good person."

A shocked expression crossed over Gohan as he dropped a stack of boxes he'd been carrying, "How'd you know about that?"

The question made Chichi nervous as well, "I have my ways…" Gohan frowned silently as his mother's dodged his question. Unable to take that expression from Gohan, Chichi explained, "When Goku started talking about a strong warrior and you caught in the middle of it… He seemed fine as if there was nothing wrong in the world, but I had to know for sure so I caught Baba and had her tune in her ball to catch the last bits of everything. "

"Mom… I was fine," Gohan shook his head almost exasperatedly.

"I know but…" Chichi had to choke back tears before explaining, "But Gohan, honey, listen, I need to tell you something serious that I haven't ever told you." It was confusing seeing his mom worked up all of a sudden, but Gohan let her continue, "And what I need to tell you is, I'm sorry."

Gohan rolled his eyes, "Mom, you don't have anything to…"

"I never gave you a chance to be yourself and be a child. I never let you play and have fun. I was always so worried about the _real_ world that I never paid much attention to _your_ world. And that's why I'm happy you've been given this chance, to be young and carefree for however long it lasts. I guess what I'm saying is… please don't be in a hurry to grow up too fast. I want you to have the fun I never let you have when you were smaller," Chichi had spoken so quickly she'd worked herself out of breath.

Quivering slightly, Gohan tried to respond, "Mom I…"

"Let's just leave it at that Gohan," Chichi was obviously emotional, but she spoke now with a sense of finality, "There's no need to say anything, just keep your mother's words in mind when the time comes."

"Okay…" Gohan promised.

"Good," The two both felt much better after the talk and finished cleaning the rest up quickly.

From outside Goku shouted, "Hey Gohan, come on Goten and I are waiting for you!"

"Go on then," Chichi smiled to her oldest son who nodded to her before running out of the house.

As Gohan walked across the yard he found Goten and his dad by the measuring pole. Goten had his back against it and Goku was marking his height again, "Would you look at that Goten, you must be hitting a growth spurt, that's another inch!" Goku cheered as he pulled the ruler from Goten's head.

"Woo-hoo! Come on Gohan, let's check if you've gotten any taller too!" Goten urged.

"I don't know Goten…" Gohan mumbled quietly. He looked to his dad for support, but Goku only held out the ruler and gave a supporting smile, "Alright…" Gohan took the position with his back against the pole. Goku set the ruler on top of his head and marked Gohan's height.

Gohan stepped away from the pole and tried to change the subject, "It's a little dark for flying that helicopter huh?"

"Wow Gohan, check that out!" Goku exclaimed.

Gohan turned and saw there was a new mark left for him. The indenture Goku made was nearly an inch above his eleven year old mark. Gohan stared at the mark in amazement with his mouth hanging slightly open for a moment, not even comprehending his brother's cheering.

Goten settled down and checked over his brother, "Are you alright Gohan?"

The disbelief slowly faded and turned into a smile and then a laugh. Gohan turned to Goten with an emotionally happy look on face. Goten was about to ask something else when Gohan grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off, "Come on Goten, we need to go play!"

Forgetting whatever had just been on his mind, Goten went along with it, "Yay!" The two flew off chasing Goten's toy helicopter over the forest.

Goku grinned to himself as he watched his boys playing carefree in the starry sky, "A happy Winter's Day for sure."

* * *

End Story

* * *

Thanks everyone for reading.

So that's where I intend to leave the subject on Gohan's age for a while. He's growing, just much slower than normal. To me what I wanted to convey in this special was that we may not always get exactly what we want, but that through troubling times and less than favorable situations may you always find hope for the future. That and despite how old you may feel, always find time to be a kid. I hope that left everyone feeling good about things, it definitely helped uplift my spirits some.

So sorry again that this ending was so delayed. A Holiday Special ending in February… geesh I'm bad. Hope you all forgive me and I'm hopeful to start a few other projects here soon. I've got a few stories I want to finish up before ZAT continues. Part of me is even considering interjecting with a new DBZ story with my own version of Gohan and Videl in school. Not having ideas for stories has never been my problem… narrowing down which story I want to work on… that's a challenge.

This is far from the end of what's in line for ZAT. I want to get back into the ZAT: Serius Prime sub series and write a few more episodic stories within that entry, some of them may even include Gohan as a guest star! I've even been toying with the idea of expanding ZAT into other fandoms such as Blue Dragon to expand on the background and story arcs of other characters involved with the universe. And of course the next big installment of ZAT has a lot of notes going for it already. I want the next mainstream installment of ZAT to blow away every preconceived notion that has ever been set in DBZ before, and that's going to mean getting things a little crazier than they already are. And to do that I've been laying the groundwork down and giving out some subtle foreshadowing in both the Immortal Saiyan saga and this Reviving Dreams saga.

It means a lot to me to have people leaving feedback and enjoying the story as it goes. It really makes this whole process feel like a collaborative effort. I've been doing the writing, but so many great ideas have come from everyone out there following along that I can't thank you enough for helping me be just as excited to see the story unfold and the details shine through.

Thanks again, and I do hope to hear from you all soon!

'Till next time!


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